


Now The Armour's Wearing Thin

by AbschaumNo1



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Angst, Area 77, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, For the most part, Inter-dimensional travel, M/M, Time Travel, World Travel, i guess?, what even is this story line?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2020-11-26 08:49:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20927456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1
Summary: Grian wasn't initially worried when Doc started to work on Area 77, but after he wakes him from a nightmare he starts to think that he should maybe figure out what's going on.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> So this was inspired by Grian dropping flowers around Doc while Doc was streaming (and then Grian placing flower pots outside Doc's iron farm when Doc was streaming a week or so later). I just had to do something with it and it kind spiraled out of control.  
It is mostly canon compliant, I just changed around some details because it fit the narrative of the fic a little better that way.  
I hope you will all enjoy it!
> 
> Title from Invincible by Tool

Grian had realised that he was taking a bit of a risk when he had left his time machine standing where it had landed when he had returned from the past. What he hadn’t expected was that Doc would cordon off a huge chunk of land, turn it into a secret facility and then proceed to hide the time machine away along with villager Grian.

And well, he hadn’t thought much of it first. He had asked to get it back, and Doc had smirked and joked that he feared for the safety of their community if Grian had access to that kind of technology. It was all in good fun and Grian had gone along with it like everyone else. He’d get his time machine and the villager back eventually.

But then Doc had gotten increasingly paranoid about the whole thing. He had started to spend more and more time at Area 77, and he seemed absentminded when they met up. When Grian had finally managed to get him to stay the night at his house in Hermitville again, he had been woken up in the middle of the night by Doc tossing and turning next to him, muttering something about alien technology and redstone contraptions in his sleep. He had jolted awake when Grian had reached out to touch him, and for a moment it had seemed like Doc didn’t even recognise him. The wild look in his eyes had been scary, and not for the first time Grian had asked himself what exactly it was that Doc and Scar were doing at Area 77.

“Are you okay?” he had asked, almost afraid of the answer.

But Doc had just smiled reassuringly, and said, “I’m fine. I promise.” He had reached out and pulled Grian close and they had gone back to sleep. The next morning Doc had acted like nothing had happened. They had had breakfast together and then Doc had kissed him and headed back to Area 77 to work on some things.

But if Doc had thought that his small reassurances were enough to dispel Grian’s worries he was wrong. After that one night Grian was more concerned than ever.

He went to talk to Cub first, because with Scar involved, he knew that Cub would at least have taken some interest in what was going on.

“I know as much as you do,” Cub said apologetically, when Grian found him at Con Corp later that day. “I sent in a couple of drones, because Scar is being weird about it, but they haven’t arrived yet.”

“So Scar has been weird about it as well?”

“Yeah.” Cub nodded. “Really secretive and closed off. He usually tells me what he’s up to, but he always changes the topic when I try to ask about Area 77. It’s… yeah, it’s really weird. What does Doc say?”

“He doesn’t tell me anything.” Grian sighed. “And he’s really distracted recently. Last night he muttered something about alien technology and flying llamas in his sleep, but when I woke him up because I thought he was having a bad dream or something he acted like everything was fine.”

“That’s definitely weird.” Cub watched him for a second. “Listen, my drones should arrive on site soon, if they find out anything I’ll tell you.”

Grian smiled, if a bit wanly. “Thanks Cub.”

“No worries man, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this.”

“I sure hope so. I’m just…really worried about Doc, you know?”

Cub nodded. “I get it.”

Grian sighed again. “I’ll better be off, I don’t want to keep you from your work.”

“I’ll message you if I find out anything.”

Grian nodded and with a quick goodbye he took off and flew away towards the shopping district.

Ren was working at the race track when Grian landed by his little storage area, and called out, "Do you have a second maybe?"

"Yeah sure, what's up bro?" Ren walked over to him, tucking away the concrete he had been working with in his inventory.

Grian fidgeted and swallowed before he said, "It's about Doc."

Ren raised an eyebrow and sat down on a shulker box. "What about Doc?" Even as he asked the question he tried to rack his brain if anything had happened between Doc and Grian recently that would make Grian look as worried as he did. He couldn't come up with anything. Not since the prank war at least.

"It's…" Grian was still fidgeting, but then he took a deep breath and launched into it.

Ren listened silently, sitting there on his shulker box. He hadn't even realised just how little he had seen of Doc recently. Sure they always had times in between when they didn't hang out much but Grian was right, it wasn't like Doc to disappear as much as he was currently doing.

And then Grian told him about the nightmare. Ren had to raise an eyebrow.

"Alien technology and flying llamas you say?" he asked.

Grian nodded.

"That's weird." Ren frowned. "Though the llamas...I wonder if that has anything to do with the llamas we used in the war. It wasn't exactly alien technology, but maybe it has something to do with that."

"Yes, I thought of the llamas as well. But that still doesn't explain the aliens." Grian bit his lip.

Ren studied his worried face for a moment before he said, "So what are we going to do?"

Grian looked surprised for a moment but it passed quickly and he said, "I talked to Cub and he said he sent some drones to spy on Area 77 and he's willing to share what he can find out. But maybe we could do some spying of our own in the meantime?"

"That sounds like a plan," Ren said with a nod. He stroked his beard, thinking. "Maybe we should give them a little bit of a distraction while we're at it though," he finally suggested.

"But what kind of distraction?"

"I think I know just the thing." Ren grinned. Maybe it was time to bust out Renbob the hippie and his RV again.

The surveillance truck monitoring the hippie camp they had built right outside the Area 77 perimeter wasn’t all that surprising. It fit with Doc’s paranoia that anyone would find out what he was doing. But two could play at that game and so Grian built up a forest on the edge of the camp to block its view and make it a little easier for him and Ren to spy back.

Cub’s drones arrived shortly after, but apparently they hadn’t found out anything new yet. Cub only said that he was monitoring the situation.

The drones were doing just that while he was working around Con Corp. He was planning out his newest addition to the area when the alarm started blaring and he quickly made his way down the fountain and into the control room.

The drones had spotted someone come out of the portal Doc had been working on, and the images weren't great, but Cub raised his eyebrows when he zoomed in best as he could. This was certainly unexpected. Grian and Ren would definitely be interested in this.

Cub wasn't one for running, but now he walked as fast as he could to the Nether portal to go over to Hermitville.

Grian and Ren were at the camp site, discussing something Cub didn't quite catch when he landed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's something going on at Area 77," he said.

"Your drones spotted something?" Ren asked and Cub nodded.

"Remember that weird Nether portal you told us about after sneaking in as Tomato Yoshi? Someone just came out of that portal."

Grian's eyes widened. "Does X know?"

Cub shook his head. "I want to confirm it first."

"So I guess we better head over there and see what we can find out," Ren said, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah." Cub nodded. "I suggest we split up and take different spots around the central hangar so they don't spot us and we see as much as possible."

"That sounds like our best option," Grian said. "So how about you take the far side, Cub, Ren takes the front of the hangar and I the near side of the air field?"

"Sounds good to me," Ren said, while Cub nodded.

"We'll meet back up here then, I guess."

They all nodded and took off towards their respective posts.

Grian was glad for the dense line of trees that divided the runway from the rest of Area 77 with the original garage everything had started with and the weird contraptions that had sprung up around it. The trees were dense enough that it was fairly easy to hide among the foliage, while still having a decent enough view.

As he sat there, waiting for something to happen, Grian looked around at what he could see of the rest of Area 77. Maybe if he could see enough to describe it to Cub they could at least try to guess at what the things Doc kept out in the open were. Grian gnawed at his lower lip. There had to be a reason for all of this. Doc wasn't acting like himself anymore and Grian was sure that it wasn't just a rough patch in their relationship. He swallowed as he turned back to the airfield. He just wanted to have the man he loved back.

The commotion Cub's drones had detected turned out to be a Hermit. Not even a new Hermit but someone who had left a long time ago. Grian, Cub and Ren watched as Scar and Doc led him out of the bunker towards the garage where he ended up being killed by the ravager Doc held in some sort of small farm. They waited until Scar and Doc had disappeared again before they all crept out and back to the hippie camp. Cub was already typing rapidly on his communicator.

"That was Keralis," he said without looking up. "He left years ago, but they somehow brought him back. I'm messaging Xisuma right now, to see if he's closer to spawn and can go pick him up. Hopefully Keralis remembers him at least."

Grian and Ren exchanged a look. "So...what kind of technology can bring back people?" Grian asked slowly. "Because if you ask me that was really fishy."

"I have no idea," Cub said. "That wasn't anything I have ever seen before." His communicator pinged and after checking the message he added, "Xisuma's heading to spawn right now to check on Keralis."

"So none of us have any idea what's going on, we have an old Hermit returning and we're still not any closer to finding out what they're doing over there, right?" Ren said, looking between Grian and Cub, who both nodded. "Great, so what are we doing next?"

Grian stared off towards where Area 77 was hidden between the trees.

"Can you maybe get us some maps of the place, Cub?" he asked finally, turning back to his friends.

"It will take a couple of days to process all the data but I'll do my best."

Grian nodded. "Then I think Ren and I will have some digging to do."

"Digging?" Ren pulled up an eyebrow.

"Yeah. We're gonna dig a tunnel into Area 77." The look in Grian's eyes was hard. "I don't think we'll find out much without going there ourselves and that way they will never see us coming."

Ren nodded slowly. "That sounds like a plan. Maybe we should build an underground meeting room as well."

"We probably should build even more distractions above ground. A farm maybe?"

There was a glint in Ren's eyes as he nodded excitedly. "Definitely man."

Cub chuckled. "I guess I'll leave you two to it then. I'll come by with the maps once I have them."

"Thanks for that Cub."

"No worries. After what we've seen today I really think we have to figure this out. If you need anything you know how to find me."

Keralis was confused. One moment he had been in the Nether, running from something he was already forgetting, and the next he was in the Overworld, looking at a small cluster of buildings and at least one familiar face. He had met Doc, sometime after Keralis had left the hermits and before Doc had joined. They hadn't seen each other for years, but they had been friends back then, and right at that moment Keralis was glad to see someone familiar.

But Doc narrowed his eyes at him and said, "How do we know you're not an imposter?"

They led him inside a large facility and locked him in a room while they debated what they would do with him, all while he tried to argue with them that he was the real deal and not some changeling.

They disappeared for a bit and left him alone in his cell. With nothing else to do, Keralis poked around the room a bit. It was spacious, much larger than he'd expect any cell to be, but at least it was lit up. He'd hate to face any zombies or creepers while he didn't have weapons. Most importantly though the cell was boring. As big as it was, it didn't take Keralis that long to check out all of it, and soon enough he was back at the entrance, just some glass blocks between himself and freedom. He wondered if anyone else knew that he was here. Had Xisuma gotten a message that someone new had entered the world? Had someone else seen him? He could only hope that they either let him go soon or that someone would come to save him.

Doc and Scar returned and gave him some shulker boxes.

“I know the real Keralis, and he’s an amazing builder. So if you’re really him you should be able to build something from this,” Doc said.

“So I just have to build to prove I’m me?”

“Yes. You’ve got an hour.” Doc turned and stalked away, while Scar gave him a cheery wave and followed.

Keralis sighed. An hour wasn’t much, he’d better get started.

He had more than an hour in the end, thanks to the fact that a creeper spawned right inside his cell, and the futile escape attempt he made in the chaos that ensued. But then he was finally done and Doc and Scar entered the cell to look at what he had built.

He hadn’t had a lot to work with, but he had managed to turn what he had into a nice little house. Luckily it was enough to convince Doc and Scar that it really was him.

They let him out and showed him around for a bit. And they were friendly enough, but Keralis couldn’t help but think that Doc had changed. He didn’t give any details about what they were doing, in fact he still seemed like he didn’t quite trust Keralis. Which was fair enough, Keralis guessed. After all they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. But it was still weird to think that his friend didn’t even believe that he was really himself.

But before he could get his bearings and process everything enough to even say something about it he was hit by a ravager and died.

When Cub had messaged him to tell him that Keralis had been spotted inside Area 77 and that he had been killed by a ravager, Xisuma hadn't had time to think about what it meant. All he had been able to think about was that Keralis would most likely be at spawn and that he would pretty much be stuck there without resources.

He had hurried along the Nether tunnel towards the portal to spawn as fast as he could, and by the time he went through, back to the Overworld, he was out of breath. He could only hope that Keralis was still there.

Thankfully he was lucky and Keralis was still at spawn.

“Shashwami?” Keralis asked tentatively and Xisuma didn’t think he had ever been this glad to hear that old nickname.

“Keralis!” he exclaimed and with a few strides he reached him and pulled him into a hug. “Thank goodness I still found you.”

“It’s good to see you. I was just about to get on a boat and find my way back to civilisation.”

“Oh goodness, you’d be taking ages. Come on, I’ll go through the Nether with you. We should get everyone together anyways to tell them you’re back, and we’ll have to get you set up.”

He led Keralis along the Nether tunnels towards Hermitville, while he messaged everyone to get together in the village. Most of the other Hermits were out there anyways to work on projects, so it was probably the easiest way.

“We’ll keep Area 77’s involvement silent for now,” he told Keralis before they crossed over back to the Overworld. “I don’t know what exactly is going on in there and I don’t want everyone to get all worked up about it as long as we don’t know more.”

Keralis nodded. “Not a word over my lips.”

“I’ll get everyone who knows together after the meeting, but I’m starting to think that it’s probably better Doc and Scar don’t see that happening.”

“I’ll do what I can to help,” Keralis promised and Xisuma had to smile. It was good to have his friend back.

Keralis’ reintroduction into the community went well. Xisuma stayed vague about how he had arrived, but there were enough Hermits, who remembered him or at least knew who he was, who were just excited that he was there. And in the time it took for everyone to welcome Keralis back Xisuma got to talk to Cub about the other meeting without Doc and Scar noticing.

He led Keralis around the minigame district towards the hippie camp once they had begged off to get Keralis some basics to start out. The others were already waiting for them, sitting around the camp fire.

“We have to talk to Doc and Scar about this,” X said, once they had joined them. “Does anyone know what they’re even up to in there?”

They all shook their heads.

“We know they’ve built some kind of hangar, probably to store and contain things,” Cub said. “There’s a few smaller buildings and a watch tower close to where False is building. And the surveillance truck facing this side here.”

“Grian and I are working on getting inside, but it’s going to take a while to dig far enough,” Ren added.

Keralis looked thoughtful but then he said, “I think I might set up base on the far side away from the camp and the town.”

Xisuma sighed. “I’ll talk to False so we have three sides covered. I’ll leave the rest to you guys so they don’t get too suspicious. But we have to get them to talk eventually.”

Grian, who had stared into the fire until now looked up, a determined look in his eyes. “We will,” he promised.

Xisuma nodded, and after a quick goodbye he left them to it to go talk to False. He knew they had this under control.

“I assume this is about Area 77,” False said when Xisuma joined her at her town.

He nodded. “You probably noticed that I was a bit vague about how Keralis has come back. Doc’s been experimenting with a Nether portal apparently, and that brought Keralis to our world somehow.”

“You want me to keep an eye on them from this side?”

And this was why it would probably do Grian and Ren good to have False on their side. She was a fast thinker with great strategic skill.

Xisuma shrugged a little sheepishly. "You are building right at the edge of their base."

"You can tell Grian I'll do it."

"Thanks False."

"As you said, I'm building right at the edge of their base. And this whole thing with Keralis somehow ending up here is weird. We need to get to the bottom of it before Doc breaks the world somehow."

"I doubt even he could, but basically yes."

False didn’t look like she agreed but she nodded and said, “I’ll see that I have an eye on them.”

The good thing about having a project to work on was that it distracted Grian. As long as he was focusing on building he couldn’t think about Doc and how much it actually hurt that he had pulled away from him. And with Mumbo and Iskall working on their own projects for their villager trading competition, Grian got to throw himself into working on the hippie camp. Ren pulled him away most evenings and made sure that he rested, but it didn’t change that Grian managed to build up most of the silo he had laid out when they had started the camp and dug out the dig site from where they would start their tunnel.

It was an afternoon about a week after Keralis had reappeared when Grian took a break from building and realised that he hadn’t actually talked to Doc since that one morning and he ached to see him again. Ren was working over at the race track, and no one was around to see him when he picked up several stacks of flowers from their flower farm and took off towards Area 77.

He spotted Doc working around the garage and he made sure to fly high enough that he wouldn’t be spotted immediately. He circled around a few times before he swooped down closer to the ground and started dropping his flowers. He made sure to be hidden away by the time Doc’s head appeared over the rim of the hole he was working in and he got to watch as Doc looked confused at the flowers on the ground before looking around and seeing no one, shrugging and climbing back down.

Grian shook his head with a fond sigh, before he leapt back into the air and made another pass. This time he left a trail towards the hippie camp, and Doc must have gotten it, because he could hear his fond laugh just before another rocket moved him out of earshot. His spirits raised, Grian returned to building.

He was pulled away from his build by the sound of rockets a few hours later. When he looked up a familiar figure circled around in the sky and Doc landed not too far from where Grian stood. He looked tired, Grian noted, as if he had overworked himself much like Grian would have had if Ren wasn’t around enough to intervene.

Doc made a tentative step towards him and said, “Hey… I haven’t seen you in a while, so I thought maybe we could have dinner?” His fingers were twitching as if he wanted to reach out, but wasn’t quite sure if he could, and Grian had to huff out a breath, because really, this was ridiculous. He reached out and laced their fingers together.

“Dinner sounds great,” he said.

Doc released a breath and gave him a relieved smile. “How about we head back to the island? If memory serves right that monstrosity you call a base has a nice garden on the top layer,” he said.

“Lead the way.” Grian smiled widely and when Doc reluctantly let go of his hand so they could fly over to the village he could feel something ease in his chest.

Doc quickly steered them along the ice path through the Nether, and it was only when they got out of the boat and got ready to glide down into the main Nether hub to get to Grian’s portal that Grian realised that Doc seemed more relaxed than before. Grian didn’t know if it was simply because he had thought Grian was mad or if it was something else, but it was a relief to see.

By the time Grian was digging though the mess of chests and shulker boxes that he called storage Doc was seemingly back to his old self, leaning against a wall, laughing fondly as he watched.

“You know this would be easier if you organised your things, right?” he asked with a chuckle.

“I’ll get around to it eventually.” Grian looked up to see the amused glint in Doc’s eyes. “Besides, it’s _fine_. I still find everything I’m looking for. Most of the time at least.”

Doc was definitely laughing now, and Grian rolled his eyes at him before he opened the next chest.

He didn’t even realise that Doc had moved until two arms wrapped around him and gently pulled him away from his storage.

“Come on, we can just sit on the grass,” Doc said and Grian allowed himself to lean into him for a moment before Doc pressed a quick kiss to his neck and let go, his hand immediately taking hold of Grian’s.

They left everything they didn’t need down at the bottom of Grian’s base and went up to the garden on the top layer. They sat down underneath one of the trees and Grian pulled out the small pumpkin pies he had found in one of his chests, while Doc provided some golden carrots.

They ate in comfortable silence, watching as the sun dipped lower until it set, painting the sea a fiery red.

They remained where they were once they were done, only moving so Doc could lean his back against the tree with Grian leaning into his side. They talked idly about what everyone was up to, sometimes touching close but always skirting around the topic of Area 77.

They were both slowly drifting off when Grian asked, "Will you stay?"

Doc hesitated for a short moment but then he nodded. "Yes, I will."

"Maybe we should head to bed then," Grian suggested. "You look tired, and I'm about ready to sleep, too."

Doc only made an agreeing noise and took Grian's hand to be pulled up when he got up. He let the momentum carry him a little further than expected and wrapped Grian in a tight hug.

"I know I haven't been around much," he said. "But I hope you know that I still feel the same about you."

Grian closed his eyes and leaned his head against Doc's shoulder. "I know," he said.

Doc nodded and released the hug, stepping back. "Let's go to bed."

Grian had trouble falling asleep. Doc was next to him, one arm wrapped around Grian, and they had had a nice evening, but Grian was restless. He would have liked to talk to Doc about the whole Area 77 business but they had skirted around it so effectively he hadn't known how to bring it up. He wanted to tell Doc how worried he was. He lay in the dark thinking about all of it until he was sure that Doc was asleep.

"I'm worried," he whispered into the darkness. "You pulled away and it hurt but then you had that nightmare and you acted like nothing had happened and I just can't stop worrying. I don't know what's going on or why you won't even talk to X about it but I just wish you would tell me something. We're in this together, aren't we?"

He trailed off, not knowing what else to say, but with all of it out, even if Doc hadn't heard it he realised how tired he was. As he drifted off he thought he imagined Doc saying, "I'm sorry."

_He was at Area 77 and they were mad._

_‘You have to finish it,’ they kept telling him. ‘Finish it or there will be consequences. We will not wait forever.’_

_He worked and worked, but it was never enough. He could still feel their displeasure. He was always too slow, still too slow when he was at his fastest. There was no pleasing them. They were relentless._

_Some part deep inside him realised that he was asleep. That he was safe. That Grian was right next to him in the real world. But he just couldn’t escape his dream._

_‘Faster,’ they kept insisting, and he tried to plead, tried to tell them that it wouldn’t be long now; that he was almost done. It wasn’t enough. They pushed and pushed and pushed._

_‘If you’re not fast enough we could always get him**,’ **they said._

_His blood ran icy cold, and he was-_

Grian woke up because Doc was pleading with someone in his sleep. He was saying that he was working on “it”; that “it” wouldn’t take long now.

He shook him awake, and this time when Doc woke up he looked afraid. In their time together Grian hadn't seen Doc truly afraid, and he wished he had never seen what pure fear looked like on his face. Doc breathed heavily, and Grian reached out tentatively, like he would with a spooked animal, and pulled him into his arms.

"It's alright. Nothing happened. You're safe," he whispered into Doc's hair. Doc didn't say anything for a long while, he just clutched at Grian, trying to get his breath under control.

When he had finally calmed down, he sagged into Grian and didn't say anything for a long while.

Grian ran a hand down along his spine in a soothing motion before he finally asked, "Are you...are you okay?"

Doc was silent for a moment. "I'm okay now. Panic's over," he finally said.

"That seemed pretty intense. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I… yeah. It's definitely fine. Just a bit of a nightmare."

Doc didn't sound like he believed it himself, but Grian new better than to push further, so he just said, "I'll be here if you want to talk."

"I know. It's just...I can't tell you." Doc trailed off and Grian thought he was done, but then he added so quietly that Grian almost missed it, "I wouldn't want to lose you just because they found out I told you too much."

It was another mystery to puzzle over, and Grian spent most of the time until sunrise trying to figure out what to do. He was sure that Doc wouldn't answer any of his questions, and it seemed that it was fear that kept him from answering. And they knew each other well enough that Doc must have figured out that Grian wasn't going to sit around idly while Doc worked himself into the ground. Grian had no doubt that Doc could get rid of the hippie camp, Falsewell and whatever Keralis would build, but he got the feeling that he chose not to. Even Cub's drones were still hanging in the sky over Area 77. He'd have to run all of this past the others he guessed, but going on as they had was probably the best course of action.

Doc didn't even try to act as if nothing had happened this time. He looked like he was still tired, maybe a little less so than the day before, but Grian could still see it.

He didn't ask any of the questions burning under his fingernails, he just said, "Promise me that you'll come around again this evening or that you'll try to sleep at least."

Doc watched him for a moment, before he nodded. "I promise," he said, his fingers circling around Grian's wrists as he leaned in to kiss him.

It wasn't nearly enough but it would have to do. Hopefully just until this evening.

Grian went to work on his parkour game, but he quickly realised that his heart wasn't in it anymore. He just couldn't stop worrying about Doc. He kept himself busy with other things, somehow, flitting back and forth between the island and Hermitville, but even he couldn't miss the sounds of explosions from Area 77. He stood and looked out towards where it was just hidden in the distance behind the horizon and worried at his lower lip. He wished he knew what Doc was up to, but he didn't dare get too close. Wels came up to him, looking in the same direction.

"Any idea what's going on there?" He asked.

Grian shook his head. "For all I know he's just blowing up things for the fun of it."

"Isn't that more your style usually?" Wels joked. But when Grian's smile turned out to be more of a grimace, he put a comforting hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm sure he's fine. Maybe he just decided to use TNT to make some space."

Grian's communicator pinged and when he checked it he saw that he had a message from Cub.

"He's blowing Cub's drones out of the sky," he said after he read it. "At least that's what Cub says."

"Well he had to do it eventually." Wels shrugged. "It's surprising he hasn't done it already."

Grian was deep in thought now. Had he misjudged Doc? Had he just not gotten around to dealing with any of them? But all he said to Wels was, "You're probably right."

Cub dropped the maps off the next day, which meant they could finally figure out how exactly to dig their tunnel. Ren was still working on the meeting room, but he put the maps on the wall for the time being, while he finished planning the exact layout.

Doc had gone home with Grian again, and after the way he had seemed to relax back on the Island, Grian hadn't even asked him where he wanted to go, but had made the decision himself. Doc had shot him a grateful look when they had reached the Nether portal in Hermitville, and Grian had done his best not to think about how it made his heart hurt, because whatever it was, Doc shouldn't look so relieved to get away from Hermitville.

It had been a nice night, even with Doc having another nightmare. Having him curl into Grian looking for comfort would probably never hurt less, but it seemed to be their new normal for now, and Grian would do everything he could to make this easier on Doc, even if he didn’t feel like he was doing enough.

Grian was almost done with his work on the silo, when he returned from a resource gathering trip to find Scar and Doc poking around the hippie camp. He should have expected them to check it out eventually, but it still surprised him to see them. They ran when they spotted him, and from the looks of it they had only taken the reactor from the back of Ren’s RV, but it made him paranoid about better hiding the entrance to their underground operations. Even if Doc knew that Grian wouldn’t look on idly at whatever was going on inside Area 77, Grian didn’t want him to know what exactly he and Ren were doing.

They moved the entrance, and Grian started working on building a giant RV inside the silo with some vague plans of making it fly eventually. Doc kept his promise to make sure to sleep and actually spent most of his evenings with Grian again, which was a huge relief, even with the continuing nightmares.

It was another nice afternoon when it itched in Grian’s fingers again and he decided to grab some flower pots and some plants and headed off to Area 77. He found Doc working inside one of the hangars Scar had built up, and after some deliberation and with only the quickest of peeks inside to check if Doc was looking, he placed one flower pot right outside the hangar. It was just to show Doc that he was thinking of him, really, and he hoped that the gesture would be appreciated.

He watched from a hiding spot as Doc came out of the hangar and spotted the flower. He gave it a confused look, before he looked around and gingerly picked it up and carried it over towards the first of the big hangars that had the reactor still hanging outside. As soon as he had disappeared inside, Grian snuck over to the hangar again and placed another one. They went through the whole thing twice more, Doc laughing fondly as he carried off the flower pots, before Doc let the last flower pot Grian had placed stand where it was, clearly in a better mood than before, and Grian decided to change tactics and went to find out where his flowers had ended up.

Doc had put them inside what looked like a containment chamber, right next to a small Scara sprout. Grian quickly looked around before he took out his pickaxe. He made quick work of the glass and after another quick glance he filled the rest of the room with potted plants, before he snuck out the other way and flew back to the camp.

He spent the rest of the afternoon working, never quite getting rid of the smile on his face. He only took a short break to drop in on Doc when he was expecting Scar to come over and to put another flower pot on the ground.

When Doc came over to pick up Grian that evening he still had a smile on his face and the first thing he did after reaching Grian on the ground was to pull him in and kiss him.

"You're in a good mood," Grian said, only barely able to suppress a grin. “Did anything interesting happen today?”

Doc smirked. “Oh we just had an infestation of potted plants. You wouldn’t happen to know about that, would you?”

“Why would you even think that? I’m just a peace-loving hippie, who worked in nature all day.”

“Maybe,” Doc said, pulling Grian in until their bodies were flush together and their noses almost touched as Doc smiled down on him. “Maybe that’s just because I saw you do it right in front of me.”

“Are you sure it was me though?” Grian asked with a laugh.

“Oh, I’d recognise that particular brand of mischief anywhere.” Doc was still chuckling when he leaned in and pressed their lips together.

“I admit it,” Grian said when their kiss ended, “it was me.”

“I know.” Doc’s face turned serious. “Just promise me that you won’t pry too much. I can’t guarantee your safety, and I would hate for anything to happen.”

Grian swallowed. “I promise to try.” He reached up and cupped Doc’s cheek, the tips of his fingers resting on the metal around his one eye. “I just worry about you.”

Doc leaned into the touch for a moment. He closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them again he said, “I know. And I know better than to try and stop you.” The crooked smile on his face was a little sad, as if he was already sure that things would end badly, and Grian couldn’t take it, not from Doc. He leaned up and kissed him.

“You try to be safe, too.”

Doc only smiled and nodded.

The next day, Bdubs started falling from the sky.

They all saw the message in chat, and it started a flurry of confused messages that only eased off when Xisuma said he was looking into it.

Doc didn't meet Grian that evening.

And as if things weren't worrying enough, Bdubs kept falling. The first to see him had been Scar, who said it had happened while he was building the front gate for Area 77, then it was Iskall, who had just left Sahara after a meeting with Grian and Mumbo. Impulse, Cub, Python and Stress all saw him fall and hit the ground in front of them.

Doc remained inside Area 77.

Iskall was kind of proud of his scheme to sell Scar a Sahara NOW membership, but he was even more proud of the fact that it actually worked, and that he even managed to sell two of them to him. Dressing as Dorothy had been a genius idea.

What he didn’t expect was for Scar to bite his lip and say, “Can you pass something on to Grian for me?” when they were about to say goodbye.

“Yeah, sure,” Iskall said, surprised.

“I’d tell him myself, but I’m not sure I could do it without Doc noticing, and I don’t want him to go all paranoid about me betraying him. It’s… I’m worrying about Doc. He hasn’t been sleeping. Ever since I saw Bdubs fall for the first time he’s been holed up at Area 77 working on something. He doesn’t sleep, he barely eats, and I try my best to make him take care of himself, but I can only do so much. He always insists he is fine, but he looks exhausted and he’s got that crazy look in his eyes.”

“Do you have any idea what he’s working on?” Iskall asked. He was curious now. They had all realised that something was going on at Area 77, and he had seen the way Grian had looked at their meeting the other day. It made him worry about his friends, because it just didn’t look like it was anything good.

But Scar shook his head. “I build and I do security. Doc’s projects are his own, and he doesn’t tell me what exactly he’s doing. All I know is that it’s so complicated that I can’t even begin to understand what it is.” He sighed. “Please, tell Grian that I’ll keep trying. But I can’t promise anything.”

“I will,” Iskall said. “Just…don’t forget to take care of yourself. I think Cub’s starting to worry a little.”

“Cub knows me. He may worry, but he knows I’ll be fine. Thanks for the concern though.”

Iskall shrugged. “We’re friends. We all look out for each other.”

“I’ll see you around,” Scar said with a nod. “I better get back to Area 77 to give Jellie her membership.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you around.” Iskall waved and Scar took off towards the nearest Nether portal.

Grian had to swallow when Iskall finished his story. "Thanks for telling me," he said. "I haven't seen Doc since Bdubs started falling to his death, and I thought that might be why."

Iskall watched him for a moment before he put a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Are you okay though? I know Mumbo and I have been a little wrapped up in our projects but you know you can always come and talk to us, right?"

"I know." Grian smiled. "And I'm doing okay. I'm worried; even more after what Scar said. But I'm okay."

Iskall nodded, though he didn't look entirely convinced. "Just remember that we got your back."

"I will," Grian said, before he quickly hugged Iskall and added, "I promise."

Iskall hugged him back. "Good. I'll see you soon then."

"Yeah." Grian nodded and Iskall jumped into the air and flew off towards Hermitville.

Bdubs fell. Bdubs fell but before he could even process that thought he splattered on the ground and died.

He fell again. And again. And again. Sometimes he caught glimpses of faces right before he died, his friends, all in various states of surprise and shock.

At some point you got used to everything, and even if he didn't like falling, by the time he caught a glimpse of Doc's surprised face as he fell, Bdubs was resigned to his fate. Maybe he'd somehow end up in water eventually, but for now it seemed like he’d have no other choice but to fall over and over again.

When it finally happened, it took Bdubs a moment to realise that he had in fact landed in water instead of on the ground, and that he did in fact have to breathe.

He managed to orientate himself and pushed up towards the surface where he took a deep breath. It was only then that he took a look around and realised that he had landed in a swimming pool, and that Keralis was staring at him out of wide eyes.

Bdubs dragged himself out of the water onto the glass ledge, barely registering the massive airfield it was looking out over.

"Bubbles, is that you?" Keralis asked a bit tentatively.

"Yeah, it's me. I've never been so happy to see your face."

Keralis laughed and closed the distance between them to hug him.

"I'm so glad to see you, Bubbles! We've all been worried about you. We'll have to message Xisuma right away to tell him you finally survived. I know he's been trying to understand what's happening and how to stop it." Keralis looked up at the sky to check the time. "But let's wait until the morning with that. You can stay here in my humble abode with me tonight."

"That would be awesome. I'm sure I got a lot to catch up on." Bdubs was slowly regaining his wits, and maybe X would have been better suited to this, if only because he was a lot calmer than Keralis was, but he would take what he got.

"So, what's with the airfield behind your house?" He asked, looking out over the massive stretch below them. Even from the distance he was fairly sure it was a Scar build, but that didn't explain why Keralis would build his house right next to it.

"Ah that…" Keralis trailed off before he shook his head with a sigh. "That's Area 77. Doc and Scar built it and we still don't really know what they're doing in there. But let's go inside, I'll tell you all about it. And I guess we'll have to meet up with Grian and Ren tomorrow as well."

Bdubs slept well that night. Keralis had given him food and had explained what was going on with Area 77 and then he had shown him to one of the guest rooms upstairs and Bdubs' head had barely touched the pillow when he was already fast asleep.

Keralis had let him sleep in as well, and had already messaged Xisuma by the time Bdubs had woken up, and they had set up a meeting with everyone later in the day.

"So whereabouts can one get set up around here?" Bdubs asked over his late breakfast.

"There's a village right on the other side of the hill away from the airfield. That's where I slept the first few nights. And there's the big village over on the other side of Area 77 where everyone else has been living since they came out here, but that's pretty full already," Keralis said. "You could always stay around on this side and we build something together."

Bdubs thought about it for a moment. "If we have a village already, what if we rebuild it together?"

"That sounds like an amazing plan! We could have a barn and some farms and lots of bushes." Bdubs had to grin at how excited Keralis already was about the plan.

The meeting that afternoon went well. Everyone was happy to see him again, and the new guy Grian seemed preoccupied but friendly. According to what Keralis had told him, he had every reason to.

The only weird thing was that Doc was nowhere to be seen. Bdubs saw Grian notice and frown, and he was sure that Xisuma had seen it as well, but had chosen to say nothing about it.

Bdubs happened to be talking to Scar when Xisuma came up to them and asked, "Do you have any idea where Doc is, Scar?"

"Holed up somewhere in Area 77 the last time I saw him. I tried to get him to come along, but he wouldn't budge. I thought it might get better now that Bdubs has landed but it doesn't look like it."

Xisuma let out a heavy sigh. "I was afraid that would happen. Are you going to tell Grian or should I do it?"

"I'll tell him myself," Scar said. "I seriously doubt Doc will find out if I talk to Grian."

"I get the feeling he doesn't find out a lot that happens outside Area 77 these days," Xisuma said. "Still, thanks Scar."

"You're welcome."

X moved on and Scar shot Bdubs an apologetic look. "I think we all thought that he'd come out to welcome you at least. I'm sure Grian is going to tell you all the details."

He was about to say more when Ren slung an arm around Bdubs's shoulders and said, "I hope you're not trying to recruit him for Area 77, Scar."

Scar smirked. "Well we were considering getting a security guard."

"Bdubs my man, I hope you're not considering that offer. They may have diamonds, but we can offer you 100% organic vegetables directly from our farm at the hippie camp." Ren wiggled his eyebrows as he said it, and Bdubs had to laugh.

"Organic vegetables sound pretty good to me," he said. "I mean I could always use some of those shiny diamonds, but there's nothing like food."

"You should come by the camp later and we'll set you up," Ren said with a grin that Bdubs returned as he nodded.

Grian gave him the full story later when he and Keralis came round the hippie camp, time machine, nightmares and all, and he was fairly sure his brain would have broken just a little if he hadn't fallen so much and experienced the full weirdness of things himself.

"So all of you are trying to somehow find out why all of this is happening and how to help out Doc," he said when Grian was done. "But why don't you just walk in there? It's not like it would be particularly hard."

“We would if he would talk,” Grian said. “But whatever’s happening has got him so scared that he made me promise not to get involved and it’s got Scar cagey enough that he doesn’t even tell Cub what he’s doing.”

“I’ve been inside, but it’s only got me killed and sent to spawn,” Keralis added.

“And let’s not forget how Doc used TNT canons to blast the drones out of the sky,” Ren said.

“Okay, okay. I get it,” Bdubs said. “It’s the only way. So I join Keralis on his side of the base and we do what?”

“We watch,” Keralis said. “We have the best view inside from there so we have an eye on what they get up to. Grian and Ren work on getting inside. False has an eye on the front.”

“Oooh, I see how it is. That’s why you asked me to build that village with you.”

“I was just looking out for you. And I do want to build with you, Bubbles.” And Keralis even got out the pleading eyes, which was unfair really.

Bdubs gave him a fond eye roll, and said, “Then I guess we better get started.”

“I should get back to my blimp as well,” Grian said, giving them a curious look. “You tell us if you find out anything.”

“We will,” Keralis said.

They were about to head off towards their village when Ren said, “Oh, wait a moment.” He scrambled off towards the farming area and returned after a moment to give Bdubs several stacks of produce.

“I promised you some of our organic crops, didn’t I?” he said with a grin.

Bdubs laughed and stored them away in his inventory.

“I won’t say no to food.”

“It’s good to have you back brother, I mean it.”

“It’s good to be back.” Bdubs smiled and with a last wave to the others he followed Keralis back towards their village. They had some mining and building to do.

And still Doc remained at Area 77.

The last was what jarred Grian and Ren the most. Doc and Bdubs had been friends before Grian had even joined the Hermits, but he didn't even come out to say hello to him. It made them worry even more, and it made the decision to bring in one of the redstoners to help them out even easier.

Grian knew he could have asked Mumbo, and that Mumbo would have come to help. But after what little they had gotten out of Doc, he didn't want him to risk being a part of this just for their friendship's sake. To make sure it was open to anyone Grian wrote a sign and put it outside iTrade in the shopping district. It wasn't the biggest surprise that Impulse replied, considering the placement of the sign, but it was a surprise to hear him agree to help even after they told him everything they knew.

"You need redstone, and I know redstone," he said with a shrug when Grian said as much. "We all help each other out, and if Doc's on the other side you need all the help you can get."

And however ominous it sounded, hearing it made at least some of Grian's worries ease a little.

Maybe things would work out after all.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cub is concerned, plans are moved along, and revelations are had

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey it's me! So this only took me a month...  
I mentioned in my comment replies on the last chapter that I was ill so that put a bit of a wrench in things. But I went and wrote an 11k chapter for all of you to enjoy (I hope).  
And I've got the third chapter planned out already, so hopefully that won't take me another month to finish lol.

Cub was concerned. Or well, maybe he was just more concerned than before. Scar going off to throw himself into some massive building project wasn’t too unusual. Scar not telling him what exactly it was was slightly concerning maybe but not overly so. The more concerning thing about it had been that he worked with Doc, who in turn had shut out Grian at the same time.

But the thing that got Cub truly concerned about Scar was when it took him longer and longer to check on his earnings from Con Corp. That had always been the one thing Cub could count on when Scar got into one of his building frenzies. Scar swore he could smell diamonds, and it was absolutely true that he had a knack for finding the best ways to earn them. It was no wonder that he was one of the richest Hermits.

So Scar not picking up his diamonds from Con Corp was concerning and Cub had to do something about it.

And so Cub packed up a couple of shulker boxes with materials, made sure everything at Con Corp was in order, and set out towards Falsewell. He’d need a base of operations outside Area 77 and the town was perfect for that. And hopefully he would be able to strike a deal with False to exchange information and maps for a room at her motel.

He moved into the motel for the time being and after some sneaking around along the newly built fence, sat down to consider his options. He’d have to get inside somehow, and he was sure he’d be able to sneak in through the weak spots of the fence, but maybe it would be better to just walk in through the front gate, distract Scar and sneak off and hide himself. It was risky either way, but walking in with Scar would probably get him further inside, and would get him more information.

Now he just needed to decide what to show Scar to suitably distract him.

The fake pineapple worked almost too well. And on one hand it was kind of ridiculous that Scar would be so easily distracted from having an eye on Cub, but at the same time Cub knew Scar well enough to expect it. What was a little surprising was that Scar did not seem inclined to spend a lot of time looking for him. Considering how secretive he and Doc were about what they were doing it seemed like Scar should take a base infiltration a little more seriously than he did. In fact, Cub pretty much got to walk around freely. It was odd to say the least; almost as if Scar wanted him to spy on them.

But Cub wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he found himself a sheltered space in one of the patches of forest and settled in. If he was already here he’d gather as much information as he could.

With Impulse joining them at the hippie commune things finally felt like they were actually moving forward. The meeting room was done, and Grian had finished the giant RV inside the storage silo. All that was left was to dig their tunnel into Area 77, build and launch their main distraction and find some answers. Grian was glad that they could finally move forward. He was getting impatient with their progress. And with Doc still sequestering himself away in Area 77, working on his secret projects, there was still nothing to keep him from worrying.

He threw himself into his work, dug a large portion of the tunnel, and when that got too monotonous even for him, he came up to the surface and watched Impulse work on the giant countdown clock.

It was interesting to watch, if Grian was honest. He had seen Mumbo, Iskall and Doc work on projects often enough to know what the different parts they used were called, but everyone had their own way of building things, and it was fascinating to see how Impulse did things. Grian got the impression that Impulse had a bit of trouble with this particular contraption, but he didn't think he'd be of much help, considering how little he actually knew about redstone. But despite the head scratching and looking at things Impulse did, he jumped around the circuits he had already built with a sureness that Grian didn’t think he could never rival. Not with redstone at least.

He decided to check on the flower farm, and it was then that he realised that it would not be enough for what he had planned. They needed a lot more flowers than what they were currently producing if they wanted their distraction to work. Grian was still mulling it over when Impulse came down from his contraption and joined him.

"Hey, what's up Grian?" he said, his usual cheerful tone tinged with a hint of exhaustion.

"Nothing much. I'm just taking a break from the digging. How are you doing?"

"Redstone's coming along fine. It's just so complicated it makes my head hurt a little." Impulse pulled a bit of a face. "I'll have to pull through, it won't get easier if I don't do it."

Grian nodded. "I've been thinking about our distraction and I just realised that this flower farm won't be enough."

"You could always build a larger one. Wait...I think I have a really good design I saw somewhere." Impulse was clearly in his element now, swiping through redstone designs on his communicator until he found what he was looking for. "It's not super complicated, I think? But you can combine it with a cactus farm, a bamboo farm and a bone meal farm to make it even more effective and you could get some other stuff out of it like cactus green and XP. I'll send them over to you, and if you have any questions I'll help you out."

Grian only barely managed to keep up, but he nodded. There was something about Impulse's excitement that really pulled him in if he was honest. Sure, the other redstoners he regularly watched got excited as well, but it was different from Impulse.

With Mumbo it felt like he never quite believed that he’d actually manage to do something, and when he finished working on a contraption he always sounded surprised that it actually worked.

Iskall was a lot like Mumbo, if a little less surprised at his successes.

And Doc… Doc knew he was good, and as much fun as he had with some of his contraptions, he approached them as puzzles to solve, like a scientist conducting an experiment. And Grian was probably a little biased, but he thought Doc was the most mesmerizing of the three to watch. Doc went into a project knowing he wouldn’t fail, and he placed components and wires like he didn’t even have to think about it. But the best part came when he was done and whatever he built worked. He would step back from it and get this pleased smile, before he’d wipe the remnants of the redstone dust from his fingers, always careful, and set to cleaning up. Grian loved watching it.

And he knew that any of them would explain things to him if he asked, but redstone had always been their domain, while Grian handled building things. He was the architect part of the Architechs after all, and on top of that everyone knew he was a bit of a trouble maker and liked to press any buttons he came across.

Impulse knew all of that, too. But he also knew how serious Grian was about all of this and it seemed that he had decided that not a lot could go wrong as long as he was around to have an eye on what Grian did with the designs he gave him. Besides, figuring out these farms was just the distraction Grian needed right now.

And working on his first big redstone machines really distracted Grian. He realised that he had picked up more than he had thought he had from watching Doc, Mumbo and Iskall, but it was still fascinating to do it himself. Impulse was always there to help out and explain things to him when he needed it, and by the time they both wrapped up their builds they had developed an easy companionship.

False liked to get up early. There was something nice about knowing that she had time for breakfast and to plan out her day before she got to work. Back at her main base in the fantasy district she liked to sit up on the aqueduct, looking out over the sea while she had breakfast. It was quiet and calm, just the right thing before a day of building and dealing with whatever the other Hermits came up with this time.

In Falsewell things were a little different. She hadn’t quite found the right place yet, and with the whole Area 77 business still going on she couldn’t help but feel a little on edge sometimes. After all, who knew what they would throw at her. Things had gotten a little better since Cub and Cleo had arrived. Sure, she didn’t see a lot of Cub, and it was probably better if she didn’t know what exactly he was doing; plausible deniability and all that, but knowing that he was around helped. She saw more of Cleo, who had come over to work on the museum, and they made sure to have breakfast together when they could.

But this morning she was planning to meet up with Ren instead. He had wanted to touch bases now that Scar had built the entrance to Area 77.

Ren was in his hippie outfit, and he had brought some beetroot soup from the hippie camp.

“How’s Grian holding up?” False asked when she had brought him up to speed on what was going on on this side of the base.

Ren sighed. “He’s worried of course, but Impulse joined us to help with some redstone and he gave Grian some farms to figure out and build. It’s been pretty effective as a distraction.”

“I wish I had more news for him, but whatever Doc’s working on, he’s not usually out here. I spotted him working on some redstone for their entrance, but he was gone before I could try to talk to him.”

“At least we know he’s still alive in there. And we don’t plan to take too long to get to the bottom of this.”

“It’s probably better that way. The last time I talked to Scar he was really worried.”

Ren nodded. He was about to say something else when a movement caught his eye. “I think they’re coming,” he said. “You better get down there. I have a plan.”

False didn’t ask. Sometimes it was better not to know too much about what was going on. By the time Doc and Scar came into Falsewell she was down on the street level again, acting like she wasn’t expecting them.

Grian wasn’t worried when Ren didn’t turn up for the launch of the RV. Sure, he had been a little cryptic before he left to talk to False, and False couldn’t remember talking to him, but Grian was sure that he was fine. Hopefully.

Okay, so maybe Grian did worry a little. It wasn’t like Ren to disappear like that. Then again Ren knew the plan, and Grian was sure that he would be there. While he was gone Impulse had rigged up a storage system for the farms Grian had built, and Grian had built up a barn around them to make it look a little nicer.

“So what’s next?” Impulse asked once they had gotten the RV in the air.

“We never told you, didn’t we?” Grian hadn’t even realised until now, but there hadn’t been time to explain their plan to Impulse, and between worrying about Doc and building the farms and the barn, and digging out the tunnel, he had been a little too preoccupied to remember to tell him. “I’m sorry we should have done that.” He bit his lip.

Impulse shrugged. “It’s fine. You were distracted. If I was in your place I would probably have forgotten, too.”

“Still.” Grian took a deep breath. “So all of this is a distraction, right? If Ren comes back before the big day he’s got some more plans, I think. But the RV and the flower farm are the main thing. Because we’re going to cover Area 77 in flowers, and while Doc and Scar are distracted by that we use the tunnel to break into their high security underground area. If there is anything to find it will be down there.”

“That makes sense,” Impulse said with a nod. “So I guess the plan for the next few days is to gather enough flowers and finish the tunnel.”

“Yeah. Cub said he’d try to get us some more information as well. I just hope Ren will wrap up whatever he’s doing on time.”

Impulse reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll be there. And even if something keeps him from helping, you’re not on your own. I’m still around, and I’m sure if worse comes to worse the others will help as well.”

“I know. Thanks. I’m just worried you know?”

“We all would be. I know I would be if it was Zedaph or Tango in there.”

Grian had to smile. “How are they by the way? They’ve been gone for a while now.”

“Still traveling. I hear Tango’s starting to make some noises about coming home though, so they hopefully won’t be too long now.”

“That’s great to hear. They’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

Impulse smiled. “They sure do.”

Cub had been inside Area 77 for about a week now and Scar still hadn’t kicked him out. He hadn’t even looked for him as far as Cub knew, and there had also been little to no security so far. Instead it almost seemed like Scar was making it as easy as he could without alerting Doc. There had been a spare suit that just happened to fit Cub in the security headquarters, and having Jellie guarding important places really wasn’t all that subtle either. As long as Cub made sure to scratch her head a few times and give her the occasional treat when he saw her she wasn’t bothered by his presence.

He had expected Doc to be more of a problem, but the few times he had spotted him he had been hard at work on something and hadn’t even realised that Cub was nearby.

Doc seemed a bit lonely, Cub thought. He was always working on something, but he kept looking over towards the hippie camp, before sighing heavily enough that Cub could see it from a distance, and turning back to his work.

He had caught two foxes that he liked to lie close to where Doc was working, sleeping curled up next to each other, but every so often when Doc took a break (never long enough to be restful, Cub realised) their heads would go up and they would stretch and get up and butt their heads against Doc’s legs. Cub was too far away to see the expressions on Doc’s face, but he usually took the time to bend down and pet them, before he ended his break.

But Cub couldn’t spend too much time watching Doc, he had intelligence to gather.

He had told Grian and Ren about S4 right after he had found out about its existence, but he hadn’t been inside yet, and as long as Doc was definitely outside working on something, he had all the time in the world to sneak around and check it out. He quickly found the airlock and the elevator down into S4, and after a bit more snooping around he found the time machine and villager Grian as well.

Jellie was lying on the floor in the massive hallway, lazily following him with her eyes and ears as he looked around, but otherwise unconcerned. Cub bent down and scratched her behind her ears.

“What are they up to down here, Jellie?” he mused, but she only blinked at him, and rubbed her head against his hand in a gesture of affection. Cub smiled. “Yeah, I miss you, too.”

She rubbed her head against his hand again, before she got up, stretched and walked off.

Cub was about to go take another look around when Jellie stopped and looked back at him as if to say, “Are you coming?”

Maybe he should follow her instead.

Keralis was up at his modern house, taking a break from working on New Hermitville to relax by the pool and do some subtle spying on Area 77, when he noticed Doc building something over the airfield. He watched curiously as Doc constructed a giant target and then blew it up with the help of a flying machine. He was testing ways to blow up the RV over the hippie camp, Keralis assumed. He had heard about how Doc had blown up the Con Corp drones, so he wasn’t overly surprised by this turn of events. Considering how paranoid Doc had gotten, Keralis had expected it to happen eventually.

Doc seemed satisfied with his test, and went right back to work on reconstructing the flying machine. He didn’t construct a target this time, and Keralis watched as he activated the machine and jumped down onto the tarmac again.

They both realised Doc’s mistake at the same moment. There was no target, but he hadn’t turned the machine around either, and this time it was high enough that it headed right for Keralis’s house. That Keralis was still standing in front of. He could see Doc waving frantically for him to get out of the way, but Keralis could only stare in horror as the flying machine passed over him. It was luck and reflex, more than anything that made him jump into the pool just before it exploded.

It was pure coincidence that Cub was watching Doc and Scar when Ren came out of the doors that led to S1. He had just returned to his little camp after going to bring Grian the latest intelligence on S4 when he had overheard Doc and Scar talking over his listening devices and had headed out to see what they were up to.

Grian had told him that Ren had disappeared after leaving to talk to False and that no one had seen him since, but neither of them had expected Ren to be inside Area 77.

And Cub really had to give it to him, he was an amazing actor, who played the role of confused hippie excellently. It didn’t save him from the sudden bright flash Scar directed at him though. Cub watched as Doc talked to him for a moment, before Ren nodded at whatever he said, and stumbled off towards the camp.

Cub waited until Ren was out of sight from Doc and Scar before he quickly made his way through the trees until he reached him.

Ren didn't seem to realise that he was there and Cub reached out and touched his shoulder.

"Hey, you alright man?"

Ren turned towards him, looking a little dazed. "What's up man? I'm really tired, man. Just going back to my RV to sleep, man," he said in the voice he always used as Renbob.

Cub frowned, but then he easily wrapped an arm around Ren and said, "I'll help you get there, okay?"

Ren nodded, already turning towards the hippie camp again.

Ren woke up confused. He was definitely in his bed in the RV, wearing his Renbob outfit, but however hard he racked his brain, he couldn't remember getting here.

He could hear voices outside, and after stretching out his muscles, he went out to see if maybe Grian and Impulse knew more.

They were sitting by the fire pit with Cub, but as soon as they spotted him their conversation stopped and they looked at him with expressions ranging from relief to concern.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Ren said, looking between them as he sat down.

"We just wanted to ask you the same," Grian said.

"Did any of you see how I got here?"

They all shot each other looks before Grian said, "Cub found you inside Area 77, stumbling towards the hippie camp."

"Yeah man," Cub said, "You were pretty out of it."

Ren frowned. "The last thing I remember is talking to Falsie in Falsewell. Doc and Scar came out of Area 77 and I think I climbed into the UFO on top of her diner. It's all a bit fuzzy after that."

"Wait, you talked to False?" Grian said with a frown of his own. "Because when you didn't come back from talking to her we asked her and she said she hadn't seen you."

"No, I definitely talked to her."

"That's weird." Grian bit his lip, before he turned to Cub. "Maybe it's that flash you said you saw them use on Ren. Could they have erased his memories? And False's before that?"

Cub looked thoughtful, but he shrugged. "I guess that's possible. I'd have to investigate the device they were using but I don't think I've seen one lying around yet."

"Maybe we should see if we can find out anything when we're inside," Impulse said. "After all it's almost time anyways. And we don't have to risk them seeing Cub."

"Yeah that might be better. If it's okay with you." Grian looked at Cub, who shrugged.

"I can pull out for now and wait what you guys find out."

"Wait a minute guys," Ren said. "How long exactly have I been gone?"

"You left the day before the first countdown was done. It's now two days until we're going inside."

"I was gone for three days?"

"Yes." Grian nodded.

"Oh man that really wasn't the plan. I'm sorry I wasn't there for the first launch."

Grian smiled. "It's okay, Ren. We were sure you'd turn up for the main part."

"Well, we better get cracking if there's only two days left. I got a bit of an additional distraction I wanna add before then."

"I'll better get going, too," Cub said. "I'll get my equipment out of Area 77 and then I'll be off back to Con Corp."

Grian nodded. "Thanks for all the help Cub."

"Don't mention it. I hope we can all go back to normal soon."

"Yeah, me too."

Cub got up. "I'll see you all soon."

They all said their goodbyes to him, before Grian and Impulse launched into telling Ren all he needed to know about what they had been up to while he was gone.

Grian approached Ren the next afternoon, while he was working on his latest distraction. He was building a big stage right next to the mushroom camp, but that wasn't why Grian was here.

"I thought we might want to do some reconnaissance before actually going inside Area 77. Get a feeling for the layout and that kind of thing."

"That seems like a good idea," Ren said with a nod. "The more information the better, and the maps only tell us so much. But how do we get in?"

"Oh, I have a solution for that." Grian grinned. "I talked to False and she said she'd be happy to provide some cover for us and be a tour guide. We can act like we're just tourists getting a tour from her."

"That's ridiculous enough it might just work."

Which was how they found themselves in Falsewell, dressed up like two rather posh tourists and apparently looking ridiculous enough to make False only barely able to keep herself from laughing.

They made it all the way to the airfield, and Ren just about managed to steal the reactor for Renbob's RV back when Doc emerged from the hangar he'd been working in, two foxes in tow and shouting something about how they were trespassing.

And Grian had known he might run into him here; after all it wasn't much of a stretch, but when he saw Doc he froze for a moment. He was torn between his desire to run forward and try to get through to Doc, to try and make him listen, and his flight instinct that told him he really should leave. He made a step towards Doc, before their eyes met, something crazy but also a lot of fear in Doc's eyes, and his flight instinct won. He turned and ran, only barely managing to leap into the air and fly away before the first of the foxes managed to snap at his ankle.

He didn't know how he made it to the hippie camp. He must have flown there blindly, and as soon as he landed his knees gave way under him and he sank to the ground, tears spilling over. He barely registered Ren until he knelt down in front of him and pulled him into his arms, where Grian cried against his shoulder until he couldn't anymore.

Ren said nothing. He just held him and when Grian had no more tears to cry, he helped him up and into his RV to put him to bed, and sat down next to it. Grian didn't even manage to thank him before his body realised how much the crying had exhausted him and he fell asleep.

Iskall had been showing Mumbo the new stock indicator he had built for Sahara when Ren had messaged them about his and Grian's encounter with Doc. The two of them had exchanged one look before Mumbo messaged Ren back to say they were on their way and they set out through the Nether portal and towards Hermitville.

Ren came out of Grian's RV, when they arrived at the camp, a sad expression on his face.

"Thanks for coming, guys," he said. "He's sleeping, but I didn't want to leave him alone."

"It's okay, man. We'll take care of him," Iskall said, while Mumbo nodded along.

"We should have been around more anyways," Mumbo added. "You go do whatever it is you have to do."

"Thanks guys. It's...we really need to get Doc back to his normal self. I don't know for how much longer Grian can do this." He sighed. "I'll better go make sure everything is ready for tomorrow. He'll be even more determined now."

Iskall studied his face for a moment before he reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Just remember to get some rest yourself."

Ren only nodded and shot him a thankful smile before he waved at them a last time and went off towards the mushroom camp.

Iskall exchanged a look with Mumbo and said, "Well, let's do this then."

Mumbo nodded and together they entered the RV.

It was a tight fit, but they managed to squeeze a second bed next to Grian's and after some gentle nudging they got him to make enough room so that they could fit on either side of him.

Grian stirred, but didn’t wake up and when Mumbo wrapped an arm around him from behind he burrowed into his body a little. Iskall smiled and settled in on the other side, pulling out a book to work on some ideas for his island and Sahara. They stayed like that, waiting for Grian to wake up again, having whispered conversations about Iskall’s ideas and with Mumbo dozing off at times. They could hear Ren and Impulse working and talking outside occasionally, but they went about their business, giving Grian time to rest. For the most part it was peaceful and quiet.

It was mid-afternoon when Grian woke up again. He looked surprised to see them.

“Hey, guys. What are you doing here?” he asked, once he had recovered from his surprise.

“Ren called us,” Iskall said. “He told us about what happened.”

“Oh.” Grian lowered his head. “He didn’t have to. I’m okay.”

Mumbo moved until their shoulders were pressed together. "You're not, but it's okay. That's what you got us for," he said easily, wrapping an arm around Grian's shoulders.

Iskall nodded. "That's right, man. It's okay to not be okay."

Grian's laugh was weak, but it was a laugh nonetheless and Mumbo had to admit he was glad to hear it.

"So what have you two been up to? Is Sahara still standing?"

"Oh it's doing all right. We have a stock indicator now so we know when to restock. And a concrete maker that still needs a build on top of it. And a bunch of dyes to supply it. So if you have any of those lying around we'd be very grateful," Iskall said with a grin. "Also Mumbo over here still hasn't sold a Sahara Now membership despite of how dedicated he was to his advertisement campaign."

Mumbo shrugged sheepishly, before he caught up with the words and frowned.

"Wait no. I have sold a membership. Oh my word, how could I forget about that? If I had known I had given him a piece of my mind." He interrupted his muttering when he became aware of the confused looks the others gave him.

"What do you mean? Who would you have given a piece of your mind?" Grian asked with a frown of his own.

"Doc of course." Mumbo looked between them, Grian looking surprised and a little bit hurt; Iskall frowning. "Remember how someone renamed that zombie that killed me over and over again to "Stay out of Area 77"? Apparently that was Doc. He came to me a couple of days ago and bought a membership; said he was sorry about the zombie thing." Mumbo shrugged. "I just didn't really think any of it at the time."

Grian didn’t say anything for a long while, a deep frown on his face.

“So he doesn’t leave Area 77 at all except to prank you, Mumbo and to buy a Sahara Now membership off you,” he said finally. He looked up at Mumbo, and his next words came out a little unsure, as if he was afraid to ask. “How did he look?”

Mumbo swallowed. “Tired, as if he hadn’t slept in a while,” he said truthfully. “A bit on edge maybe, kinda jumpy. But I also got the impression that he was glad to get out of that place, even if it wasn’t for long.”

Grian nodded slowly, as if that was what he had expected. “That sounds like the last time he stayed over at my base. Before the whole Bdubs things happened.”

“So you really haven’t seen anything of him since then?” Mumbo asked.

“No.” Grian shook his head. “I’ve talked to Scar, who told me that he tried his best, but that he was worried about him as well. And False and Keralis said they had both seen him. Apparently he tried to pay off Keralis for accidentally blowing up his house. But today was the first time I saw him again.” He fell silent and Mumbo instinctively squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. He could feel Iskall shift on Grian’s other side, and then Iskall’s arm wrapped around Grian’s middle. “He looked so scared. I’m not even sure he recognised Ren and me.” Grian’s voice was small, and Mumbo could feel Iskall’s hand tense before he quickly relaxed it again.

“If you want us to help you with whatever you’re planning we will,” Iskall said.

“It’s okay,” Grian said. “It really is. It’s hard enough to get three people in without Doc and Scar noticing. And Ren and Impulse got my back.

Mumbo exchanged a look with Iskall behind Grian’s back, before Iskall said, “Alright. If you say it’s fine then we’ll accept that. But if you guys need someone to bail you out you know we’ll be there.”

Grian smiled. “Thanks guys.”

They stayed with him until the afternoon was slowly turning into evening, and they could hear Ren and Impulse outside the RV. There seemed to be a short discussion before someone knocked on the door and Ren stuck his head inside.

“Hey guys. We’re just about to have dinner, do you want to join us?” he asked, looking them over.

The three Architechs exchanged a quick look before they all nodded and scrambled up. Iskall was the first to get out of the bed, followed by Grian, whose excited little hop seemed a lot more like him than the sad lump they had found earlier. Mumbo however got his legs tangled in the sheets as he tried to get up and kind of fell out of bed, much to the amusement of his friends. He looked up at them sheepishly and Grian and Iskall laughed and took his arms to pull him up.

“Oh Mumbo, there’s no need to kneel down for us,” Grian said with a snicker.

Mumbo rolled his eyes fondly. “Yeah, sure.”

Ren smiled at them, and then they heard Impulse call out from the outside to ask whether they were coming or not.

Iskall and Mumbo filed out behind Grian

“You alright now?” Mumbo heard Ren ask Grian as they walked the few steps to the campfire.

Grian gave him a small smile and said, “I will be.”

Ren only nodded and when he looked up and met Mumbo’s eyes he gave him a thankful smile. It was all they could ask for.

The morning of their infiltration of Area 77 dawned as sunny and warm as any other. Impulse and Ren had made sure that everything was prepared for their mission. And while Grian had felt a little lonely in his bed with Iskall and Mumbo gone again, and Doc still hidden away in his lab, the little get together they had had the evening before had helped him relax enough to fall asleep. Hopefully they would find some answers today.

They went over the plan again after breakfast. Grian would put in another hour or two to gather more flowers, while Impulse checked the redstone again and Ren made sure everything else was ready. They’d launch their distraction shortly after lunch, cover Area 77 in flowers, and then when Doc and Scar came outside to investigate they would use their chance to break into S4 and see what they could find out. If they were lucky they would be in and out before Doc realised it and they could finally clear up this whole mess.

They all kept busy during the morning, and even a quick visit from Bdubs on his way to Hermitland couldn’t dissipate the nervous energy they all felt. They had been working towards this for long enough that it didn’t quite feel real to think that their plans were finally about to be truly put into motion.

They ate their lunch in silence, a last chance to take a breather before it was finally time.

Of course the mini RV didn’t launch the first time they activated it. But they managed to laugh about it instead of panicking and Grian quickly flew up, dismantled it and rebuilt it.

“Let’s hope it works this time,” he said to the others before he tried to launch it again.

They all took a moment to admire the view of a small RV flying over their heads, before Grian scrambled to place a couple of shulker boxes down and they all gathered materials for the next stage of the plan. It was a bit of a mad scramble to place all the flowers in time, but they miraculously made it and they had just placed the last of them when the flying machine hit the cliff above the Area 77 hangars and stopped.

For a moment they all stood there and looked at it.

“It does look kind of majestic,” Ren said finally.

“We’ll leave it up there. It gives them something to puzzle over on top of the flowers,” Grian said. He took a deep breath. “But let’s keep going. They’re sure to realise something has happened and we still need to break in.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Impulse nodded and they quickly took off and flew back to camp.

“Someone was down here,” Grian said as soon as they entered the dig site. “The door to the fake tunnel is open.”

“You think they looked around more after that?” Ren asked, but Grian shook his head.

“That should have thrown them off enough.”

They all peeked into the fake tunnel, but there was no one there, and Grian quickly led the way over to the real one and down the tunnel he and Ren had carved out up to where another tunnel branched off of it.

“Based on Cub’s maps of the place this tunnel leads right into the middle of S4. We just have to bust through the last bit of stone and we’re in,” he explained, as he turned the corner to head down that way.

They heard explosions on their way to the end of the tunnel, but after a tense moment of waiting they realised that they weren’t about to be busted and moved on. Grian used some TNT to make quick work of the last blocks and then they dropped down into S4.

It was a magnificent build, Grian had to admit. The sheer size and the design showed every trace of one of Scar’s creations.

“We better split up so we can cover more ground. We’re looking for anything we can find on what Doc’s up to, any notes he might have left lying around, stuff like that,” Grian said.

Impulse nodded. “I’ll check the hallways and see if I can find any secret entrances or rooms.”

“Good. Then Grian and I will check out the rooms Cub said they use so far.”

They all nodded and split up.

Jellie was sitting in the hallway in front of the used area. She eyed them a little suspiciously, but just yawned and stayed where she was.

Grian and Ren split up wordlessly, Ren heading towards the room with the time machine, while Grian quickly broke into the one across from it.

Scar had built a nice modern house inside, surrounded by a little garden, and when Grian walked inside he found villager Grian standing in the backdoor.

“Oh, they built you a house,” Grian said, surprised. “I never really got around to that, didn’t I?”

The villager only made one of his unintelligible sounds, before he turned away and headed outside.

Grian shook his head, he didn’t have time to think about what this might mean. He quickly searched the lower floor of the house before heading up the ladder he found in a corner, but it became pretty apparent that there was nothing here except villager Grian. For a moment he considered taking him with them back to the hippie camp, but then he looked around again at the house and decided that he was better off in here. It was safe and at least he had a proper house. With a last glance around he broke through the front again and left.

Ren was still poking around the room with the time machine, and Grian quickly walked over to join him.

“There’s nothing in the other room, just villager Grian and a nice little house they built for him.”

“Well, I can’t make any sense of this, but I think I hit gold here,” Ren said, gesturing towards the table in front of him.

Grian joined him, casting a quick look over the papers and open books strewn about the table.

“I think at least some of this is in German,” he said, frowning a little. “Let’s take some photos. We can look into translating it later.”

Ren nodded and they got to work.

They were almost done when Impulse came into the room.

“Guys, they’re coming back, we need to get out quickly,” he said. “I heard them up in the big storage area already.”

“Oh no. If they’re far enough in that you can hear them already we won’t have time to get back to the tunnel and cover up our traces.” Grian looked around, trying to think of a way out. It came to him when he looked at the time machine. “Quick,” he said, “we’ll have to take the time machine.”

There was no time for anyone to come up with a better idea, and they were quick to follow Grian up an impromptu staircase. They could just about hear the faint sounds of the noteblocks used to open the airlock upstairs before they closed the door behind them.

Grian was fairly sure that time travel never got any more pleasant, but opening his eyes and realising that the entire time machine was gone was a new low.

They had landed on a patch of sand by some water, land stretching out in two directions from their position, water in the other two. The terrain looked unfamiliar, and the textures of the blocks looked slightly weird. His inventory was empty, but his communicator was still there, which was a small mercy at least. He quickly checked the screen for the world information and had to gulp.

“Guys we may have overshot,” he said. “This is Alpha.”

“Alpha? You mean…we’ve gone so far back we’re at the very beginning of the world?” Ren said.

“I’m afraid so.” Grian nodded. “I guess that’s why the time machine broke. It probably couldn’t handle it.”

Impulse looked around. “So what do we do?”

“We should be able to get a crafting table, but there’s a whole lot of stuff that hasn’t been invented yet, so we’ll have to work around those. I guess we better get a house going and start gathering resources.” Grian looked at the other two, who both nodded before they all went off to start gathering wood.

They got the bare bones of a house done just in time for nightfall. It wasn’t much, but at least they could hunker down for the night and not be overrun by mobs. It was a small mercy, but it was something. And as Grian stared up into the night sky he wondered what they might encounter before they got to return home.

Neither Scar, nor Doc had been overly concerned about the time machine being gone. It wasn’t the first time Grian time travelled, he was sure to be back quickly, Impulse and Ren in tow.

What Scar didn’t expect was a worried-looking Mumbo asking him if he had seen Grian when they ran into each other in the shopping district.

“Not in a while, no,” Scar said. “Why?”

“I tried messaging him a couple of days ago, but he hasn’t replied. I’ve checked all the usual places, but I can’t find him and Impulse and Ren don’t react to my messages either.”

And that piece of information definitely got Scar’s attention.

“Impulse and Ren, too?” he asked, and Mumbo nodded.

“That’s weird. I wonder…” He shook his head. “I’ll talk to Doc and see if he knows anything. But if they’re in Area 77, I haven’t seen them.”

“Thanks, Scar.” Mumbo looked relieved.

And Scar had planned to restock Cherry, but that had time he decided and hurried back to Area 77 to talk to Doc.

He found him outside, still working on removing the flowers the hippies had left.

”Doc?” Scar called out as he landed safely away from any flowers.

Doc looked up in surprise and gave him a little wave, before he brushed some dirt off his hands and came over. He looked better, Scar noticed; less crazy. All the work outside to remove the flowers must have done him some good.

“Hey, what’s up man?” Doc asked when he reached Scar.

“Have you talked to Grian in the last couple of days?” Scar said.

“No. Why are you asking?” Doc frowned.

“I just ran into Mumbo in the shopping district, and he says that Grian is nowhere to be found. And neither are Ren and Impulse.”

He could see the moment Doc realised the same thing Scar had and hadn’t wanted to mention in front of Mumbo.

“They never returned with the time machine,” Doc whispered, eyes widened in shock. “If only I hadn’t…” He shook his head. “But I told him to stay away. I should have known he wouldn’t listen, and I should have been better about reassuring him.” He sat down on the ground heavily, and looked up at Scar. “It’s my fault, Scar,” he said.

Scar squatted down, shaking his head. “It’s not Doc. You couldn’t have known that he’d take the time machine or that he and the others would get stuck somewhere. I doubt that any of them would blame you if they were here. But you’re the only one besides Grian who knows how it works, so you’re our best chance at finding out where they are.”

Doc took a deep breath. “You’re right. But I can’t do it alone. I’ll need Xisuma’s help with this.”

Scar nodded. “Okay. Then you head down to S4 and gather what you need, maybe take a moment to pet Jellie, while I go get Xisuma.”

Doc nodded and took the hand Scar offered to pull him up.

“We’ll get them back,” Scar said.

“I hope you’re right.” Doc looked like he wasn’t quite ready to believe it, but he started off towards the base and Scar was willing to take that.

Xisuma was close by, working on something with Keralis and Bdubs, and he agreed to come over to Area 77 immediately.

Scar met him at the entrance, and immediately led him towards S4.

“Grian, Ren and Impulse took the time machine a few days ago and no one has seen them since,” he explained on the way. “Doc says he can’t find them without your help.”

“Alright then I’ll see what I can do. How is Doc doing?”

“He’s coping, I’d say. He’s worried and he blames himself, but he pulled himself together a little when I told him we couldn’t find them without him either, I think. It was the best I could do.” Scar shrugged apologetically, but Xisuma gently squeezed his shoulder.

“It’s alright. I’m sure working on an actual solution is going to help.”

Scar shot him a thankful smile as he led him through the airlock and down into S4.

Doc was already in the laboratory where he had worked on the time machine. He had found two chairs somewhere, and he had mostly cleared the working area of the papers and books he had still had lying there. He was bent over some of his notes, absentmindedly petting Jellie, who lay in his lap.

He looked up when Jellie noticed them and leapt down to come to Scar. He looked relieved to see Xisuma.

X just walked over and pulled the second chair close to sit down. “What do you need?” he asked, cutting to business immediately.

“Thanks for coming, Xisuma,” Doc said. “I’ve just been looking through my notes to find a way to find them.”

Xisuma nodded and Scar picked up Jellie to go sit down against the wall, while they got to work. It wasn’t like he could do much to help them, but he was going to stick around just in case they needed him.

Grian was the only one on the surface when it happened. Ren and Impulse had gone underground to dig for resources while Grian stayed aboveground, making sure they had enough wood for torches and tools, and that their island wouldn’t be too overrun by mobs or that a creeper would accidentally blow up what they had gathered already.

_Herobrine joined the world._

They all saw the message at the same time. Grian knew because the sounds of digging from Ren’s and Impulse’s ends of the com link died down abruptly.

They were all silent for a moment before Ren said, “Wait, what?”

Grian could hear Impulse start digging again as he said, “Oh yeah, that was a thing.”

He frowned but went back to the tree he was trying to cut down. “But I thought that was just a myth. Like people said they saw him but it wasn’t an actual thing, right?”

“That’s what I always thought it was,” Ren agreed.

They all went silent again, concentrating on their work, and Grian was glad that he could at least hear the sounds of Ren and Impulse digging, because after all that he had heard he couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his spine.

He finished cutting down the blocks of the tree branches, but when he looked down he stopped short.

“Guys, I see him,” he said. He was a little glad that the tree was between them and he quickly hid behind the tree trunk.

“You see him? What is he doing?” Ren asked, sounding a little worried, but also curious.

“He’s doing nothing. He’s just standing there.” Grian peeked around the tree again. If Herobrine had seen him he didn’t give any indication of it.

“Huh, that’s odd,” Ren said.

Grian didn’t reply. He stepped out from behind the tree, so he stood in full view of Herobrine. He had the distinct feeling that he moved his head ever so slightly and looked right at Grian, but before anything else could happen he suddenly vanished.

_Herobrine left the world._

“He’s gone,” Grian said. “He really just stood there.”

“Weird.”

But before either of them could say more about it Impulse said, “I just found something!”

They were one diamond closer to home.

Herobrine was in the void when he noticed it. He could feel the change, almost imperceptible but still there. Among all of the empty worlds waiting for someone to settle in them there was one less. Curiosity peaked he went to investigate.

He landed at spawn, which looked oddly untouched. There was no sign of anyone close by either, which was a bit weird, because he doubted that they could have gotten far away. Herobrine took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was sure they hadn’t left so they had to be somewhere.

He let the world information flit through his mind. It was a good world to settle in he thought, but it wasn’t supposed to be settled for a long time. He frowned a little as he dove deeper and followed the flow of information into the future, looking for any clues.

This was going to be a private world, he saw, settled in by a group of about twenty. The number of settlers fluctuated a little, some people leaving, while others joined. And then something weird happened. Three of the world inhabitants went missing but returned again, with no sign of any of them actually leaving the world. He focused on their signatures and retraced his steps back to Alpha. His eyes flew open in surprise. They were here. All three of them. Much earlier than any of them should be.

It took only the blink of an eye to teleport close to their location. Only one of them was on the surface, but Herobrine could pick up their communications signal. At least they could talk to each other while working. It was a bit of a surprise that it still worked, despite being far too advanced but it was a start. They were searching diamonds he realised, apparently they were a central part to their return to their time. Herobrine stood and watched the one on the surface as he worked on cutting down a tree, the others sounding like they were underground digging. He didn't dare approach. They seemed a little on edge after seeing that he had joined the world, and he didn't think it would help to scare them off. But that didn't mean he couldn't help them somehow.

He concentrated on the blocks beneath his feet and searched until he found the other two deep underground. They were spread out going in different directions, which made this a little harder, but after a moment he managed to spawn in a few more diamond ore blocks where there hadn't been any before. They should find them eventually, and then they could go home.

By the time he was done the one on the surface had spotted him, and stood next to his tree looking at him. But his work here was done for now and it took only a thought to leave the world again. They'd have to do this alone.

"Oh I think I found something!" Xisuma exclaimed. "I've been looking through the old Alpha logs, just in case they overshot spectacularly and went all the way back there, and there's something a little weird here." He turned the command screen he was using a little so Doc could see it. "There's a note of someone joining and then here." He pointed at the line that had caught his eye, nothing much at the first look, just a short notice that someone had spawned in additional diamond ore.

"Diamond ore?" Doc said with a frown.

"Yeah. If they went all the way back there they'd have to make do with a lot less. No beacons for example. Maybe they exchanged the beacon in the time machine for a diamond block."

Doc scratched his head and looked down at his notes.

"It might work," he said. "At least it's the most likely block for them to use to replace the beacon." He looked up at X. "But who spawned in additional diamonds. None of them should be able to do that."

"All I can say is that it wasn't me. There's no admin signature. Besides spawning in ores in already explored areas is past anything I can do."

"Then who could?" Doc looked a little worried now and Xisuma wished he could help him out.

"I don't know to be completely honest with you," he admitted. "Alpha was way before my time."

"You think they can make it back?" Doc looked like he feared the worst and X reached out to gently squeezed his shoulder.

"I think that they're all resourceful enough to work it out." Doc nodded, but before he could voice the idea X could practically see brewing in his mind, X added, "And we can't go back there. I don't claim to fully understand how time travel works, but I am fairly sure we'd just get stuck there with them. I know you want to help but the best we can do is settle in and wait for them to make it back here."

Doc deflated a little but he nodded.

"I'll just have to believe that they can do it," he said, heaving a sad sigh. "But at least we know where they ended up."

X nodded. "At least we know that." He looked over at Scar, who had fallen asleep, leaning against the wall and Jellie in his lap. "But I do think the two of you need to finish up what you're doing here. I'm not going to ask what it is, I trust both of you enough to believe you're not about to completely break the world, but you've been worrying everyone and we'd like to have the two of you back."

Doc looked down, at least having the decency to look like he took it to heart. "I know. I promise we will do our best to come back soon."

"That's all I can ask." X gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll have to get back to Bdubs and Keralis, but if you want to talk just message me."

Doc nodded. "Thank you Xisuma. For everything."

X nodded and with another squeeze of his shoulder he got up, gathered his things and left. This was all he could do right now.

After Herobrine had left they seemed to pick up some pace. It didn’t take long for Ren and Impulse to gather more diamonds, and then Grian joined them underground to help finding the last diamond needed. They were all impatient to return home now.

It was actually Grian who found the last diamond, and the amused complaints from Ren about how they had worked so hard just for Grian to come down and not having to work for it spoke more of his relief that they could hopefully finally go home than annoyance.

Grian quickly fetched the last things they needed from a chest in their little base, and they placed the diamond block in the middle of the improvised time machine. Grian handed them a compass and a clock.

“We can’t construct item frames so you’ll have to hold these,” he explained.

“Will it actually work?” Ren asked, looking a little worried.

Grian shrugged. “Well I can’t say that I tested it, but it should.” He wished that he could reassure them better, but there was just no way to say that without it being an obvious lie.

Impulse gave him a reassuring smile. “We won’t know if we don’t try.”

Grian nodded. “Let’s do this,” he said and turned to flick the lever and press the button. The world turned white and all that was left was to hope that he hadn’t done anything wrong.

With Xisuma telling Doc that they would have to wait, and extracting his promise that they would wrap up their work on Area 77 soon, things got sped up a little. Scar finished some things around S4, and got all kinds of minor things in order, until Doc approached him and said, “I think we should open this place to the public.”

Scar nodded. “Yes, I think that’s probably a good idea.” He hesitated for a moment but then he added, “Let’s ask False to come by this evening, make a small announcement of it, so we don’t have everyone running around in here immediately.”

Doc nodded, looking a little relieved that he wouldn’t have to deal with everyone at once. Scar gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I’ll go invite her.”

False had been surprised when Scar had invited her to the grand opening of Area 77, but she had readily agreed to be there. It was good to see them around again, and while she didn’t doubt that they’d keep being a little mysterious about it, it was a start. She was sure X would be relieved to hear about it as well.

There was a proper little stage when she arrived, which was maybe a little too much for just her, but nevertheless a nice touch. They were just about to start properly, when they all heard a loud explosion, and things came to a halt until Grian, Ren and Impulse emerged from the Falsewell Park.

“You arrived just on time,” Doc said, only barely concealing the strain in his voice. False could see the look Scar shot him, but Doc shook his head almost imperceptibly and Scar took over.

The revelation that Area 77 was supposed to be a new part of Hermitland didn’t seem to go over as easily as Doc had probably hoped. Grian did his best to only sound a little indignant, but he couldn’t quite hide the hurt in his eyes. False couldn’t help but think that however this developed from here, Doc would have some explaining to do.

Of all the things Grian had considered might happen when they returned to the present, this wasn’t one of them. He didn’t quite know who it was that Doc was trying to fool here, but it certainly wasn’t working on Grian. Not after everything he had seen.

But he didn’t say anything about it. He was too exhausted, and when Doc and Scar disappeared back inside, Doc shooting him a last, longing look over his shoulder, he just let them. He’d go catch some sleep and talk to Doc in the morning.

They exchanged quick greetings with False, who looked glad to see them, and then they flew over to the hippie camp to sleep.

They had barely reached it when Doc flew in and landed heavily next to Grian. Ren and Impulse exchanged a look, but they disappeared into their RVs by some sort of unspoken agreement, Ren with a tired wave for Doc, and then they were alone.

The camp lay silent around them, only the campfire crackling a little. And Grian knew they needed to talk; there was so much they had to clear up, including whatever story that had been back at the Area 77 entrance, but he hadn’t slept properly since they had travelled back to Alpha, and he was exhausted. He could see all the emotions warring in Doc’s eyes, guilt and relief and fear, but he couldn’t deal with all of it right now.

And so he didn’t. He gave Doc a tired smile, but he walked past him to his RV. Doc swallowed as Grian passed, but he didn’t say anything and he didn’t leave. Grian left the door open for him, hoping he would get the hint, and barely managed to drop his armour and elytra to the floor and take off his shoes before he collapsed onto his bed.

He could hear the door closing softly, and the rustle of Doc’s clothes as he got ready for bed, before the bed dipped under his weight. Doc hesitated a moment, and Grian opened one eye to look at him sleepily. Doc smiled hesitantly, but then he leaned over and kissed Grian’s forehead, before he repositioned himself so he could lift Grian enough to wrestle the covers out from underneath him.

Soon enough they were huddled under the covers, Doc holding him close, and Grian fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Grian slept in late the next day. He drifted in and out a little when Doc got up in the morning to use the bathroom, but he fell back asleep as soon as Doc slipped back under the covers.

He was still there when Grian woke up properly, looking like he was ready to spend as much time in bed as Grian wanted.

Grian blinked away the sleep from his eyes, and stretched, Doc’s arms loosening just enough to give him some space to move.

When Grian was done, Doc lifted an arm to brush a hand over his head and said, “I’m sorry.”

“You should be,” Grian said, no heat behind it. “You made me worry.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have.”

Grian nodded. “Then please don’t do it again.” They were silent for a moment, but then Grian asked, “So what was really going on?”

Doc sighed. “I’m not quite sure myself,” he admitted. “I found these weird villagers. They didn’t look quite right, and they killed the villagers I had in that garage build. They had all these plans for machines with them, like nothing I’ve ever seen. I built one; that wool farm next to the garage. And I don’t know… they kept whispering to each other, and somehow I thought they were talking to me, asking me to do all these things and build all these machines, and with them killing my villagers I got paranoid.” He took a deep breath. “I should have talked to you, or Xisuma, but I thought they might turn on the Hermits next, and I couldn’t risk it.”

Grian was silent for a moment, trying to work through it all, and Doc added, “It sounds crazy, I know.”

Grian lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “Not crazier than time travel, I think,” he said. “But how did Scar get involved in all of this?”

“I went to talk to him because I also found a UFO, and I wanted his opinion on it. You know how he is into space travel and all that, and I thought he might be able to help out. And then he decided to stick around. I think he thought it was a bit of a joke at first, but he agreed that we needed to contain them.”

“So all this time, you were trying to protect all of us?”

Doc nodded. “And I was curious about their machines, but I didn’t want to risk anyone else getting hurt.”

“So the nightmares…”

“Those were me being paranoid. But they felt so real, you know?”

Grian sighed. “I just wish you had talked about this earlier. We were all so worried about you and Scar.”

Doc’s arm tightened a little around him.

“I know,” he said. “And I really am sorry. And I promise that I’m back now. I will finish one last project and then I’m done with Area 77.”

“Good.” Grian nodded.

Doc gave him a relieved smile, and maybe things would be okay now. Maybe.

They spent the rest of the day in bed, giving Grian a chance to rest up, only leaving to go to the bathroom, and to grab something to eat, Grian recounting their adventures in Alpha in between naps. It was a good day, the best they had had in a while, and they both found themselves wishing that it didn’t have to end.

But on the second morning after Grian’s return they both had to go back outside again. Grian wanted to meet up with Ren and Impulse to talk about what they would do with the hippie camp, and Doc had his project to finish.

They said their goodbyes after breakfast, Doc promising to meet up with Grian for dinner, before he kissed him and left.

Doc landed in front of the Infinity portal inside Area 77. It was almost done, just a few blocks remained, and he was determined to finish it today. It was time to be done with all of this.

He got to work methodically as always, replacing block after block, until there was no more obsidian, just blocks of diamond.

He stood in front of it, looking at it, and considering his options. He needed to test it to see if he could leave it standing around here or if it was too dangerous. He had no idea what it really did, but it needed to be done.

He approached the portal, because really, there was no other way, and then with a deep breath, he stepped through.

_Docm77 has left the world._


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Doc travels to unexpected places, Grian waits and friends return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone!  
This sure was a ride. I got sick right around the time I posted each of the first two chapters, so uh fingers crossed for this one, and ended up spending a lot more time on this than I expected to tbh. (I only regret one of these) and now it is finally done! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!  
I also will be writing a prequel to this. It's already outlined, so I'll start work on it as soon as I can.
> 
> Also if you want to shout at me or if you want to shout about Hermitcraft with me feel free to add me on Twitter and message me. I'm @AbschaumNo1 over there as well. Please shoot me a message to tell me you found me via this fic though so I know to accept your request.

Grian was at Sahara to talk to Mumbo and Iskall when he saw the message.

_Docm77 left the world._

For a moment everything inside him froze. They had just talked in the morning, hadn’t they? And Doc had promised to be there for dinner, and now he had left? It didn’t make sense.  
“Did Doc say anything about leaving?” Mumbo asked, confused.  
Grian shook his head. “Not to me at least. I’ll ask Scar if he said anything to him.”  
A quick exchange with Scar told him that he didn’t know anything either, except that Doc had worked on the portal.  
“Maybe it was the portal,” Iskall said. “Who knows what it does?”  
“I’ll probably have to talk to X anyways. I don’t think Doc managed to tell him what was going on yet, and with him gone someone needs to clear at least some things up. Maybe he’ll know something.”  
Mumbo and Iskall exchanged a look, before Mumbo said hesitantly, “If you think that’s what you should do…”  
Grian gave them a smile. “It’s okay, I swear. Doc cleared up what happened before, and I trust him enough to believe him that he hasn’t planned this.”  
“If you say so.” Mumbo still looked unsure, but Iskall nodded.  
“We just worry,” he said. “After all the last time Doc got all mysterious on us it didn’t end well.”  
“Yeah, I get it. But I swear that this time I’ll actually be fine. Anyways, I better go to talk to Xisuma.”  
“Good luck with that,” Iskall said. “And don’t become a hippie again!”  
Grian was still laughing when he had already left Sahara far behind.

As it turned out Xisuma had no idea how or why Doc left, either.  
“It’s kind of weird to be honest,” he said. “I mean, people leave and come back all the time, but they usually talk to me first. And Doc hasn’t said anything about that.” He looked a bit pensive. “And he really didn’t say anything to you either?”  
“No.” Grian shook his head. “On the contrary. We were going to meet up later. He only said that he had one last project to finish at Area 77, and Scar said he wanted to finish work on that portal he was building. Maybe he decided to test it and didn’t realise that it would take him out of the world?”  
“It’s possible,” X said. “Maybe we should try messaging him. His communicator should still work.”  
Grian nodded. “I’ll try that. If he doesn’t reply, I’ll see who else I can reach. Maybe the SciCraft guys know something or can figure something out.”  
“Let’s hope we can clear it all up before that,” X said.  
Grian could only agree.  
He messaged Doc on his way back to Sahara to work on the building around the new concrete maker Iskall and Mumbo had added in his absence. Hopefully by the time he was done with that he would have a reply.

The portal led Doc to a small room carved out of smooth stone. It wasn’t any place he was familiar with, but then he didn’t have a lot to go on. This place could be anywhere.  
He sighed and reached into the pocket of his lab coat to get his communicator out and check his coordinates, but his fingers only found air. The pocket was empty. Doc frowned; he was sure that he had put it back in there after the last time he had used it.  
The next thing he noticed was that his inventory was empty. He hadn’t had a lot of things on him, just some basics to be prepared, but what little he had had in there was gone.  
He swallowed. Whatever the portal had done he got the feeling that it was worse than what he had expected.  
But before he could turn around and try to go back through it, he heard voices approach. He hadn’t noticed the narrow passage someone had dug into the wall across from the portal, but that was definitely where the voices were coming from.  
“I tell you, it’s right in here,” one of them said, “I dug into the wall and there was just this small room with a weird portal inside.”  
“I believe you, no need to repeat the story again.”  
Two people rounded the corner into the narrow passage and Doc’s eyes widened.  
“Guude?” he said, and the first of the two stopped in his tracks.  
“Doc, is that you?”

Grian didn’t get a reply by the time he decided to wrap up building for the day. It was odd. Doc usually replied fairly quickly. And still nothing.  
Grian worried his lip as he tried to decide what to do now. Maybe he should wait a little longer. Finally he shook his head. He had to head over to the hippie camp to get some stuff, maybe Doc had left a note by the portal or something.  
With a sigh, he leapt into the air and flew off towards the Nether portal.  
The reason why Doc hadn’t replied became obvious when Grian entered his RV. There, right in the middle of the floor lay Doc’s communicator. It must have slipped out of his pocket when he got dressed, Grian guessed. Doc probably hadn’t noticed that it was gone.  
Grian picked up the device and slipped it into his own pocket. He’d have to talk to Xisuma about how to proceed from here.

After wrapping things up at the hippie camp and buying out the last of Cherry’s stock as a gift for Grian, Impulse had turned to other projects. He had started to build a new mini game in Hermitland and then he had returned to his base on the main island and started taking care of all the little things that he had left lying around before leaving for Area 77 and that needed to be cleaned up.  
He worked for a few hours, mostly on small things, and he was just about to head over into his trading area to take care of some things there and start building iTrade’s stock back up, when he heard a familiar voice say, “Maybe he’s in here. You know how he can get when he’s working,” and Tango and Zedaph came through the water curtain.  
“See? I told you he’d be here,” Zed said.  
Impulse could only smile, before he closed the distance between them and pulled them both into a hug.  
“I didn’t realise you guys were back,” he said.  
“Well, we tried messaging you, but you didn’t reply, so we got worried,” Tango explained. “Especially after what you told us about Doc and that Area 77 business.”  
“Oh yeah, that must have been when we went back to Alpha.” Impulse scratched his head a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t really check my messages since we got back.”  
He had to laugh when he saw their faces, curiosity obvious in Zedaph’s expression, while Tango looked a little more concerned.  
“Come on,” he said, “let’s go somewhere a little nicer and I’ll tell you all about it.” He took their hands and pulled them along. There was a lot to catch up on.  
They sat together late into the evening, until Zed was about to fall asleep, before they went to bed. Zedaph curled up on Impulse’s one side, while Tango lay down on the other.  
“I’m glad you guys are back,” Impulse said, which earned him a content hum from Zedaph and a smile from Tango.  
“It’s good to be home,” Tango said. “We’ve been gone for too long.”  
They talked more, in hushed voices so they didn’t disturb Zedaph until Tango fell asleep, too.  
It was only then that Impulse really checked his communicator again and saw that Doc had left. He frowned. Grian hadn’t said anything about Doc planning to leave. In fact, he had said that they were definitely on their way back to normal now.  
Impulse typed out a quick message to Grian to ask if everything was okay before he stretched a little to reach across Tango and put his communicator down on the nightstand.  
With a content sigh he lay back down and closed his eyes. Right now he just wanted to enjoy having the two most important people in his life back with him.

Doc didn’t stay long with Guude and JSano. They showed him around a bit and caught each other up on their lives. But as happy as Doc was to see his friends, he knew Grian was waiting for him, and he wanted to go home.  
“Don’t be a stranger, Doc,” Guude told him when they were saying goodbye. “And message us when you get home.”  
“I will, man,” Doc said, before they hugged and he stepped through the portal with a last wave at them. He couldn’t wait to get home.  
He was already thinking about dinner and how to explain to Grian what had happened when he realised that he was falling. He only got a split second view of blurry buildings before he hit water.  
It wasn’t until he emerged, spluttering, that he realised that he was nowhere near home. Or well, nowhere near his current home. The buildings he could see from where he was bobbing in the water were old and lifeless, but he recognised them immediately.  
This was where he came from; his home world where he had started out and learned what he could learn on his own; the world he had left behind to go out and find others and learn all there still was to learn. He hadn’t been here for a long time, but from the looks of it nothing had changed since then.  
With a sigh he started to swim towards the shore. Hopefully there was still food and dry clothes around, as well as a warm space to sleep.

Doc was still gone when Scar finished up his work that evening. He had tried to keep an eye on the portal to see if Doc would come through, but nothing had moved around it all day, and Scar got a sinking feeling that it might take a while before they saw him again.  
He had planned out another building on the plains beyond the portal and the airfield while he waited, a large structure they’d be able to use as headquarters. He’d have to gather all the resources he needed tomorrow, but for today he was quite satisfied with his work.  
Now if only Doc returned. He sighed as he crossed the airfield towards the hangars to check if anything in there was running that he should shut off before the night. He really hoped that Doc didn’t take too long. After all that had happened with Area 77 and the aliens already, they all needed a break to breathe and stop worrying for once. After all, the next big thing was sure to hit them eventually.  
He had almost reached the iron farm hangar when a soft yipping sound pulled him from his thoughts. Inside, tucked against one of the side walls were the enclosures of Hans and Franz, the two foxes Doc had tamed to help with security. They were both awake and looking hungry. Scar sighed again, before he set down Jellie at the entrance, from where she eyed the two warily, before she shot Scar an indignant look and left. Scar shook his head fondly and went over to the chest Doc kept the foxes’ food in.  
“You two must have been lonely in here,” he said as he squatted down and pushed some sweet berries through the gaps underneath the fence gates. They seemed a little wary of him, but crept close enough to grab their food before they retreated towards the back of the enclosures.  
Scar watched them thoughtfully for a moment before he pulled out his communicator and sent Grian a quick message to ask him if he could come to Area 77.  
Grian didn’t take long to arrive, eyes darting around curiously.  
“What’s up? Have you heard anything from Doc?” he asked immediately.  
Scar shook his head. “Sorry, I haven’t. There was actually something else I wanted to ask you.”  
He could see Grian deflate a little. “Oh okay. What is it?”  
“You remember the foxes Doc tamed? Hans and Franz?” Grian nodded. “Well, he’s left them here, and they seem a little lonely. I can’t really take them along when I’m working, because Jellie doesn’t like them though, so I wanted to ask if you could maybe take them and take care of them?”  
Grian looked a little surprised, but he nodded again. “If they’ll accept me, I can.”  
“Come on then.” Scar led him into the hangar and to the foxes. “The one on the left is Hans, the one on the right is Franz, I think,” he explained. “There’s sweet berries in the chest, and I think leashes as well. They’re pretty good at following Doc without them, but I don’t know if they will do that for anyone else.”  
“I guess we’ll find out,” Grian said, before he took some berries from the chest and slowly approached the two foxes.  
Scar watched as he softly called out their names. They eyed him a little warily, but then Hans crept forward, and Franz followed suit, and soon enough they were gingerly eating berries from Grian’s hands. Grian whispered to them until they let him pet them and attach the leashes to their collars.  
“I think they’ll let me take them with me,” Grian said with a soft smile. “I guess I’ll take them over to my house for now and then we’ll see what we’re going to do tomorrow.  
Scar smiled. “Thanks for taking care of them,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll be glad about the company.”  
“So will I.” Grian looked down at Hans and Franz, who were both looking at him expectantly. “Thanks for calling me over to get them.”  
“Come on, I’ll walk you over to the gate before I go find Jellie and reassure her that the foxes are gone.”  
Grian laughed. “I’m sure she will be very pleased with that.”  
Scar watched as Grian walked along the street into Falsewell, Hans and Franz sticking close to him, and hoped that whatever happened Grian wouldn’t feel lonely at least.

As much as Scar wanted to stay around the portal to see if Doc came back, he had to get on with building the headquarters. He went through his chest monster by the base security building to see how much he could gather up from there, and then he grabbed a couple of shulker boxes and went out to gather more resources.  
He didn’t return to Area 77 until the late afternoon. Doc had still not returned and Scar had to admit that he was a little antsy because of it. No one knew where or why he had gone, all they knew was that he didn’t even have his communicator on him. Considering Doc had finally started to look a little more relaxed again, all of this felt like a giant step in the wrong direction. Besides, Scar couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. If he had only been around to help or at least close enough to know what Doc had been doing they wouldn’t be in this situation right now. Maybe Doc would still be here, or maybe they would at least know where he went and how to contact him. But Scar hadn’t been there and after all the weeks of doing his best to take care of Doc, he had failed and let down his friends. And as much as he rationally knew that there was little he could have done, he just couldn’t help but feel that it was his fault.  
And so, before he could dwell on it for much longer, he threw himself into his new building project.  
It took him two days and most of a night awake to get it done, and by the time he placed the last block, he was exhausted. Still, the work was done, even if Doc hadn’t come home yet.  
He didn’t know how much time had passed since he had finished when he woke up and found himself in a bed. He was in the security building, he realised, Jellie curled up against his side, but he had no memory of getting there. He did not feel well though. He was used to crashing and sleeping for ages after getting too engrossed in building. But this wasn’t the usual exhaustion from building. This was worse. With a groan Scar let his head fall back ono the pillow. There was no doubt about it, he was sick.  
But before he could feel sorry for himself the door opened and Cub peaked inside.  
“Oh good, you’re awake,” he said. “I found you outside, leaning against some shulker boxes. How are you feeling man?”  
“Not good,” Scar rasped out.  
Cub frowned a little and stepped closer to feel Scar’s temperature.  
“You’re burning up man,” he said. “Do you think you can manage to go over to Con Corp like this? I could take better care of you there.”  
“Yeah, I think I can make it.”  
Cub nodded and slowly helped Scar up from the bed. Jellie woke up when Scar moved and let out a questioning meow, before she got up and stretched. Scar was shivering and Cub quickly stripped the sheets off the bed and wrapped them around Scar’s shoulders. Scar shot him a thankful smile, before he picked up Jellie, who immediately nuzzled into his arms.   
“Let’s go then,” he said, and Cub nodded.  
By the time they reached Con Corp, Scar was ready to curl up in bed and sleep again. Cub kept an arm around him as they walked across the board room and through the door that lead towards their living quarters. Jellie leapt out of Scar’s arms as soon as they were inside, and wandered off towards the kitchen, looking for food. Cub steered Scar towards the bedroom, where he all but collapsed into the bed, barely managing to pull the covers around himself to provide more warmth.  
“I’ll go make some soup,” Cub said, brushing Scar’s hair away from his forehead with a worried but fond smile. “Try not to fall asleep before I get back.”  
Scar only nodded and wormed himself deeper under the covers.

Grian couldn’t help but get antsy the longer Doc took to return. He had hoped there would be a message at least, some sort of news to let him know that Doc was still alive and on his way home. Grian had messaged everyone he could think of to see if they knew anything, but no one had heard a word about Doc since he had vanished. He knew he wasn’t the only one who worried; they were a family, they all worried. Scar had pretty much worried himself sick, according to Cub, and Grian knew he was lucky that Mumbo and Iskall stuck around so the same didn’t happen to him. It also helped that Hans and Franz were around. Sometimes it felt like they were taking as much care of Grian, as he was taking care of them. Impulse checked in a bit more regularly than before as well, even though he was still catching up on missed time with Zedaph and Tango. And Xisuma had tried to find out where Doc had disappeared to, but not even he had been able to figure it out. He had made sure they all knew not to touch the portal though.  
“I don’t think it’s stable,” he had said. “And it’s probably a better idea to wait for Doc to get back before we do anything about it.”  
No one had disagreed.

It was on a boring evening on his own that Grian came up with Demise. They needed a distraction. He needed a distraction. And with Halloween coming up soon, a little contest for everyone to get involved in was just the thing to distract them from their worry and get them into the spirit of it all. It would be fun, and knowing the other Hermits it would probably get completely out of control again. He’d set it up tomorrow, he decided. There was an empty spot right next to Dig Straight Down that would be perfect for it.  
With a satisfied smile Grian pulled the covers of his bed closer around himself, making sure not to disturb the two foxes lying next to him, and closed his eyes. He had to believe that Doc would return eventually. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t get up to shenanigans in the meantime.

Doc had taken his time getting reacquainted with his old home world. He wandered around the empty buildings, rediscovering things he had built, and digging through chests to see what supplies he could find.  
Most of the farms seemed to be working, even after all the years of disuse, and the ones that didn’t, looked like easy fixes. If he needed to fix them that was.  
He worked through his options all day, and tried to figure out how to get back home from here, and at night he tried his best to sleep. He missed the other Hermits, missed the family he had found with them, but most of all he missed Grian.  
When he couldn’t sleep he focussed on his memories of the Hermits. Cub’s and Scar’s mischievous laughs when they pranked someone, Vex magic floating around them; Iskall laughing at something; Ren easily slinging an arm around Doc and congratulating them both on a job well done; and Grian. Grian who kept surprising him; Grian who flew through the air like he was born to do it; who escalated the prank war past the point of no return; who never did anything by halves and had a mischievous streak that beat everyone. Grian who would jump from one project to the next while Doc was still trying to figure out how he had pulled off the first one.  
Doc had to smile when he thought back to the build-off and how much time he had spent perched on the walls of Hermitville, watching as Grian jumped around the components of his house, figuring out how to stack more on top of it until he had built higher than Iskall and Scar again. Doc liked to watch Grian build. Not just because he was so amazing at it, but because of how much passion he had for it.  
Doc had to smile sadly at the memories. He had to get back home.  
It was coincidence that he got close enough to the area where the villagers lived to hear them talking. He had checked up on them from a distance, but everything looked fine so he hadn’t come closer. He had had other things on his mind when he had been in this area before.  
But this time he passed by a little closer, and he could hear the whispers among them. It was the familiarity that made him pause, the cadence of their speech, and it took him a moment to realise why. Surprised, he stopped short and slowly turned to them. Behind the villagers the big counter loomed, and suddenly things clicked in his mind. The aliens really were villagers. Not just any villagers. They had originally come from this place.  
The villagers behind the fence eyed him a little warily, before one stepped to the front and said, “You came back.”  
“Yes,” Doc said. “I did.”  
“It has been a long time.”  
“It has.”  
There was a moment of silence before the villager said, “We know that the others have found you.”  
Doc nodded. “Listen, man. I’m sorry for what I did back then. I didn’t realise they would get stuck in space.”  
There were some surprised chuckles from the crowd, but the villager in front only nodded.  
“Take better care of them now. You are not the only one with a family.”  
“I will.”  
The villager nodded again and turned away, the others following his example. Doc watched them for a moment as they went back to ignoring him and talking among themselves.  
With a sigh he turned back to his path. He had things to do before nightfall.  
The idea came to him when he was looking through the notes he had left behind in a backroom of the redstone museum. It was an old design he came across, something fun he had built but disassembled again, because he hadn’t had much use for it and he needed the components for a different project. Building another Infinity Portal was out of the question. It would take too many resources and too much time to do, and as he had learned there was no guarantee that it would really take him back home. But this was at least worth a try.  
He started digging through chests almost immediately. Luckily he had everything he needed stored away, and the machine he needed was quickly built in the middle of the water.   
He didn’t much care for aesthetics right now; the only thing that was important was to get home. He made a last quick trip to stock up on as much food as he could possible take. He was fairly sure that this would work, but there was no way of telling how long it would take.  
Finally he sat down in the boat he had constructed, and with a deep breath he started the machine. It was time to go home.

Grian kept busy after constructing the sign up place for Demise. There was always something to do around Sahara, even if it was just a restock of some sorts. Mumbo and Iskall had done some work while Grian had been a hippie, and he felt that he needed to catch up a little.  
Life went on, even if they were all waiting for Doc to return. Xisuma had started a new business venture with Keralis and Bdubs that was still under construction right outside Hermitville; Joe had decided to revitalise the Halloween district, and False had gone back to work on her ever expanding base.  
But Demise turned out to be the distraction they all needed even before it had started. There was a lot of talk about what everyone would use the eventual price for, and pretty much all of them kept checking back to see how many people had signed up already, and how big the prize would eventually be.  
Grian was about to do his latest check-up when he found TFC standing in front of the Demise wall.  
He turned to Grian when he approached and nodded at him.  
"Hey TFC, haven't seen you out here for a while," Grian said, as he came to stand next to him.  
"I heard about your game. Thought I'd check it out," he said, gruff as always.  
Grian shot him a surprised look. TFC wasn't exactly known to take part in community events. He preferred to stay in his bunker, only coming out for meetings and in the rare case that he needed to get something from the shopping district. Grian hadn’t expected him to take part in Demise either. And yet, here he was, checking it out.  
He was about to say something about it, but TFC beat him to it.  
“It’s an interesting idea,” he said. “I thought I’d sign up.  
“Really? That would be awesome.” Grian smiled.  
TFC shrugged. “Seems like we all could use a distraction.”  
He didn’t say that it was Grian who most needed the distraction, but it was clear that he was thinking of it.  
This time it was Grian who shrugged. “It seemed like a fun way to bring everyone together.”  
TFC just looked at him for a moment, before he reached out and squeezed Grian’s shoulder. “He’ll come back. I’m sure he’s working on it right now.”  
Grian had to swallow, and nodded silently. TFC wasn’t the first to say that to him, but it felt different to hear it from someone he didn’t spend as much time with. He knew Mumbo and Iskall meant it when they said it, but somewhere at the back of Grian’s mind there was always a kernel of doubt that whispered to him that of course they would say that. After all they were his best friends.  
But TFC, even though they were friends, had no reason to tell him something he didn’t believe himself.  
Grian smiled at him a bit wonkily. “I know,” he said. “I just worry about him. I hope he is okay.”  
TFC nodded. “Doc can take care of himself. He’ll be fine,” he said. “So don’t worry too much.”  
“I’ll try,” Grian promised.  
TFC nodded, satisfied. “Ya know, I guess I’ll just sign up now since I’m already here,” he said.  
He pulled 50 diamonds from his inventory and stepped up to the chest to put them inside, before he added his name to the list in the book Grian had provided.  
“There,” he said as he stepped away. “All signed up.”  
“I’d wish you good luck, but I’d rather win this myself.” Grian had to grin, and TFC laughed.  
“No worries. I’ll see you around.”  
With another squeeze of Grian’s shoulder he walked off towards the portal, leaving Grian smiling after him. If even TFC was participating this would be even more fun than expected.  
Curiously, he stepped closer to look at the list. Almost everyone had signed up already, just a few names were missing. Cub had even added Scar’s name, even though he was still fighting off the flu.  
And then, right at the very bottom of the first page was a familiar scrawl that made Grian’s breath catch. “Doc the Destroyer” it said, barely legible. It was without a doubt Doc’s own handwriting, the look of it almost as familiar as his own.  
Dazedly Grian took his communicator from his pocket and checked the worldwide message log for any sign of Doc’s return.  
Only when he didn’t find any did he pull up his private conversation with Xisuma and asked,_ “Any sign of Doc being back?”_  
_“No. Why?”_  
_“Just found this on the sign up list for Demise.”_ He took a picture of Doc’s name in the book and sent it to X.  
_“I’ll check again.”_  
Grian put the communicator away again, and after tracing his fingers over Doc’s name, he turned away and walked off towards the portal to go home, hope blooming in his chest. He’d see him again.

Doc was tired. He had no idea how long he had been rowing through portal space, hoping that his path would lead him back home, but it felt like it had been a long time. He only took breaks to eat and to rest a little, afraid of what would happen if he stopped moving for too long, and he started to feel it.  
In the beginning he had still had time to think, but after a while all he could focus on was the repetitive motions of rowing and Grian’s face in his mind. He didn’t just want to get home, he needed to get home. Home where Grian waited, where his family waited. Thinking of Grian pushed him even when he wanted nothing more than to sleep. He would do that. As soon as he got back home and had found Grian and apologised for disappearing he would sleep. Hopefully it would be with Grian in his arms.  
When he finally hit the end it happened gradually. Bit by bit his boat got slower until he only barely moved and then stopped all together, and the familiar feeling of the portal itself swirling around him replaced the rush of portal space. The boat broke underneath him, and only a moment later he tumbled out of the Infinity Portal and onto the familiar ground of Area 77.  
It was a bright day, beautiful even, and the plains stretching out in front of him looked the same as they had when he had left. He walked a few steps away from the portal, trying to find his bearings again. He’d have to find Grian. Maybe he would be over at Sahara, or working on something in Hermitland. Or maybe Doc would at least run into one of the other Hermits.  
But before he could even decide on where to go first, he heard the sound of rockets, and a moment later, Grian practically dropped straight from the sky and used his momentum to tackle him in a hug. Doc managed to stay upright, but the relief that flooded through him as he finally wrapped his arms around Grian again, turned out to be too much. He could feel his legs buckle under him. Then everything went black.

_Docm77 has joined the world._

Ever since he had found Doc’s name on the sign up list, Grian had practically completely relocated to Hermitville. He couldn’t help it, if Doc returned he wanted to be close enough to get to Area 77 immediately. Xisuma had found nothing that would tell them when Doc would return, all they knew was that he would return, and they were all buzzing with anticipation.  
Grian had been thankful when Iskall invited him over to his newest business idea for Sahara right outside Hermitville. It was a refuelling station, and Grian couldn’t help but be impressed by the set up. All in all the idea was very Iskall, but it did lock up a market niche that wasn’t being served out here right now.  
Iskall was about to explain the process behind it when their communicators pinged with the message of Doc’s return, and Iskall had only told him, “Go.”  
Grian didn’t have to be told twice, he was off into the air and speeding towards Area 77 within seconds.  
And there he was, only a few steps away from the portal, looking like he was still trying to figure out where to go from there. Grian had never been so thankful to see Doc in his life, and without even thinking he dropped down and rushed to wrap him in a hug, incapable of forming a coherent thought.  
Doc only barely caught him and wrapped his arms around him before he passed out.  
Grian stumbled a little under Doc’s weight, but he just about managed to lower him down onto the ground.  
He knew he wouldn’t be able to carry Doc on his own, but he definitely couldn’t just leave him lying on the ground either. He quickly pulled his communicator out and asked Iskall to come over and help him out.  
Iskall arrived only a few moments later.  
“What do you need my help with?” he asked, eyeing Doc’s prone form curiously. “Is he okay?”  
Grian sighed. “He passed out almost as soon as I arrived. Could you help me move him somewhere else?”  
“Sure.” Iskall nodded. “Where do you want to take him?”  
Grian thought for a moment, before he said, “Let’s take him to the hippie commune. It’s the closest place I actually know my way around.”  
“Won’t the RV be a little too small to work with?  
Grian shrugged. “I’ll expand it if I have to, but I think all he needs is rest and the RV should be enough for that.”  
“Okay then. I think I should be able to carry him, but you’ll have to show me the way.  
Grian nodded and helped Iskall to lift Doc’s body onto his back.  
“Alright, let’s go,” Iskall said once he had found his balance again.  
Grian led the way around the HIB headquarters and across the plain to the back corner of Area 77. It wasn’t the shortest way maybe, but at least they wouldn’t have to deal with the cliff and the small forest Grian had built. To make things even easier for Iskall, Grian broke a hole into the fence so they could walk right through it. He was sure Scar would understand.  
By the time they made it to Grian’s RV and Iskall could put Doc down on the beds the sun had almost set.  
“God, I forgot how heavy he is,” Iskall said, as he stretched out his back. “Do you need anything else?”  
Grian almost shook his head, but then he thought better of it. “Could you bring the foxes over? I don’t want to leave them alone while Doc’s out.”  
“Yeah sure, no problem.” Iskall gave him a smile. “If you need anything else just ask.”  
Grian nodded. “Thanks Iskall.”  
“No problem, dude. I mean it.” Iskall patted his shoulder and left, the sound of rockets firing accompanying his departure.  
Grian quickly went to grab some food from the barrels at the farm before he got Doc out of his armour and elytra. Even in sleep Grian could see how exhausted he was. There were dark circles underneath his eye. His hair was dishevelled and his clothes looked like he hadn’t changed them in weeks. Grian sighed and stripped his clothes off of him. It wasn’t like there was any use in keeping him in his dirty clothes. He’d ask Scar if he could find a change of clean clothes inside Area 77 if he had to, but for now it wasn’t like Doc needed them.  
It wasn’t long before Iskall returned with Hans and Franz, barely enough time to send a quick message to everyone to tell them that Doc was really back and that he had passed out and sleeping at the hippie commune.  
Hans and Franz came to Grian’s side as soon as Iskall let go of them, and Grian quickly scratched both of them behind their ears.  
“I hope they didn’t give you too many problems on the way here,” he said.  
Iskall grinned. “It was nothing I couldn’t deal with. Also I didn’t know if you had any berries over here so I grabbed some from your supplies.”  
“Thanks. I think I might have some around, but I haven’t gotten around to looking for them.”  
Iskall only eyed the shulker boxes and barrels that were still strewn about the campsite, but he only said, “If you need anything else message me, okay?”  
Grian nodded. “I will.” He gave Iskall a quick hug before he went back into the RV, the foxes right at his heels.  
Hans and Franz wove around his legs and jumped onto the bed as soon as they realised that Doc was in there. They curled up by his feet and looked at Grian expectantly, as if to ask what was keeping him so long.  
Grian didn’t need to be told twice, and after quickly undressing and putting everything away, he climbed into bed, and pulled the sheets around himself and Doc, one of his arms wrapped around his waist. He was tired, and if he had to wait anyways, he could just get some sleep himself.

The first thing he noticed when he came to was how warm it was. As he woke up more he realised that someone was curled up against him, and that there were two smaller weights lying closer to his feet. He also realised that someone had undressed him.  
The details of what had happened were a bit fuzzy. He had come out of the Infinity Portal, hadn’t he? And then Grian, Grian had come and had hugged him and he must have passed out right around that time, because that was the last thing he remembered.  
When he finally opened his eyes, he looked right at a mop of light brown hair. Grian was still sleeping, his forehead resting against Doc’s chest, his body curled in on himself, with one hand resting on Doc’s waist. Doc reached out and smoothed his hand over Grian’s shoulder until it lay splayed out across his upper back. Grian mumbled in his sleep and pressed his face closer against Doc’s chest, fingers flexing against Doc’s skin before he settled down again with a sigh.  
Doc had to smile, and with a deep breath he closed his eyes again. They had time.  
When he woke up the next time, Grian was awake and studying his face.  
He smiled when he realised that Doc was looking back at him, and then without a word he leaned in and kissed him. Doc welcomed him eagerly, drinking up the feeling of their lips pressing together like a man reaching an oasis after getting lost in the desert. He had missed this. It had been far too long since they had just been together like this, no hurry to talk, everything but the present locked out of the room for the moment. Doc sighed into the kiss, and pulled Grian with him without breaking it, as he turned onto his back. Grian took the opportunity and slipped his tongue into Doc’s mouth, his arms coming up to grip at Doc’s shoulders, as he moved just enough to be fully on top of him. Doc chased after the taste of Grian’s mouth, their tongues sliding against each other, and as his hands ran down Grian’s body, he realised only one of them was completely naked. He nipped at Grian's lips, as he slid his fingers underneath the waistband of his boxers and used the leverage to pull him further up his body. Grian broke the kiss with a gasp at the friction, but when he saw Doc's smirk he immediately dove in again, more demanding this time. Doc was only too willing to comply.  
He was about to slide down Grian’s boxers when his foot nudged something and there was a yelp from the foot of the bed. Surprised they both froze for a second, before Grian leaned his head against Doc’s and let out a breathless laugh.  
“Oh right, I forgot about those two,” he said and rose until he was kneeling above Doc, the sheets pooling around his hips. Doc drank in the sight, but he quickly focused again, when Grian poked him in the side and rolled his eyes at him. When he lifted himself up onto his elbows and peered around Grian he realised where the yelp had come from. Hans and Franz were curled up at the foot of the bed, both looking at him accusingly for disturbing their sleep.  
Doc had to laugh softly. “Oh man. Way to cockblock a guy, man.”  
The foxes didn’t look like they cared, and Grian actually knee walked backwards, until he could reach them, and nudged them until they got up and leapt down from the bed. Doc couldn’t see what they were doing on the floor, but he had a good guess thanks to his own experience with them. Grian turned back towards him and leaned over him for a quick kiss.  
Doc smiled at him. “You’ll never get your clothes back once those two have gotten a hold of them.”  
“I know.” Grian chuckled.  
Doc slowly ran his hands up Grian’s thighs, and gave him a warm smile. “So… are we getting back to what we were doing?”  
Grian smiled back as he leaned in again, and said lowly, “I don’t know are we?”  
This time their kiss was slower, more deliberate, and as his eyes fell closed, everything but Grian fell away again.

They didn't wake up again until the sun was high in the sky already. Grian was the first to wake, and for a moment he just lay there looking at Doc, who looked already more rested and peaceful in his sleep. He hadn't planned for the morning to go the way it did, but he had to admit that he didn't exactly mind. And it looked like whatever had happened to Doc while he was gone hadn't been bad.  
Before he could think further about it, Doc stirred and his eyes opened slowly, his face immediately stretching into a soft smile.  
Grian smiled back helplessly, and Doc leaned in for a short kiss, a lot more chaste than earlier.  
"Good morning," Grian said.  
"Good morning." Doc's voice sounded gravely with sleep and Grian realised how long he hadn't heard him like this. His hand tightened involuntarily where it was resting against Doc's chest, and Doc stilled, his eyes searching Grian's face.  
He leaned in for another chaste kiss, and said, "I won't go again. I promise."  
And Grian believed him, he really did, except… "You said that the last time, too," he said, sounding small even to himself.  
"I know." Doc looked guilty. "And I meant it back then just as much as I mean it now. I had no intention of leaving you behind and going off without telling you."  
Grian closed his eyes with a sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Waiting for you has just been hard."  
Doc's arm tightened around Grian and he pulled him flush against his body.  
"I'm so sorry."  
Grian slid his hand across the plating on the left side of Doc’s chest and around his body to return the embrace. "You're already forgiven."  
He could feel tension drain from Doc's body at his words, as if he had been afraid that Grian might be angry at him even after the way they had spent the morning.  
"Maybe don't forget you communicator here the next time though," Grian said lightly, a small smile curling around his lips.  
"Yeah… I only realised I didn't have it on me when I came out of the portal on the other side and wanted to message you." Doc looked a bit sheepish now.  
"I got it stored in my ender chest somewhere," he said. "I found it lying here on the floor."  
“Thank you.” They lapsed into silence for a moment before Doc said, “So where did my clothes go?”  
“Outside to be washed as soon as possible,” Grian said. “They were a little filthy, and I didn’t think you’d need them while you were passed out. I assumed you have some clean stuff in Area 77.”  
“There should be some in my ender chest,” Doc said. “If you have that sort of thing around here.”  
Grian rolled his eyes at him. “There’s one or two around. I should be able to fetch you one.”  
Doc stretched and smiled a little mischievously, before he said, “I can always walk to one myself. It’s a hippie commune, right?”  
Grian had to laugh. “I won’t stop you, but you might want to check if anyone is around first. I think the others missed you as well.”  
“You’re right, maybe I shouldn’t risk it,” Doc said with a grin.  
With a fond eye roll Grian leaned in and kissed him again. “Go take a shower, I’ll get you an ender chest.”  
“But what if I fall over in the shower and hurt myself?” Doc said lightly. But his arms tightened around Grian and when he leaned back to get a proper look at his face, he realised that while he tried not to show it, Doc was seriously considering the possibility.   
Grian reached out and put a hand on his cheek in an attempt to soothe him.  
“I can stay if you want me to,” he said.  
The mask fell off Doc’s face almost immediately. He looked vulnerable as he said, “Please.”  
Grian nodded and Doc closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Grian’s.  
“Thank you,” he said earnestly.  
“Anything you need.”

Doc had to admit that he was glad that Grian offered to stay. Even if he wouldn’t have been far away, and Doc was fairly sure that he wouldn’t pass out again, he wasn’t quite ready to let Grian out of his sight. Sure, it had been him who had been responsible for how long they had barely seen each other, if at all, but he couldn’t help but shake the feeling that something would happen to split them up again.  
If Grian hadn’t caught on yet the way Doc barely let go of him even when they just moved from the bed to the bathroom and the shower was a bit of a giveaway. But even if he figured it out Grian didn’t say anything about it. He just somehow fit both of them into the admittedly tiny shower, and turned on the water.  
There was only barely enough room to move, and they quickly realised that it would be easiest to wash each other. The feeling of Grian’s hair between his fingers, and Grian’s hands on his skin grounded Doc, and pulled him away from his irrational fear of somehow being parted again so soon. Grian seemed completely focussed on getting Doc fully cleaned up, but when Doc moved on from his hair down to his shoulders he realised that Grian was tense as well.  
Doc smoothed his hands over his shoulders and down his sides, before he wrapped his arms around his shoulders and pulled his body against his own.  
“I’m not done yet,” Grian protested weakly, but Doc could feel the tension drain out of him as he relaxed.  
“I know,” Doc said. “But we have time.”  
Grian’s arms slid around him as he leaned his head against Doc’s chest, a perfect fit to tuck himself under his chin.  
“Eventually someone will come looking for us,” Grian said.  
Doc hummed and said, “We’ll deal with them when we’re ready.”  
“They missed you too, you know?”  
“I missed them too.”  
They lapsed into silence until Grian sighed and gently pushed away.  
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get on with it.”  
Doc nodded and when Grian grabbed the shampoo bottle he obediently lowered his head so Grian could reach his hair. It brought them close enough that it just took a small turn of his head to kiss Grian before he raised his head again to rinse out his hair.  
He caught a glimpse of Grian’s smile before he closed his eyes against the water, and he could feel Grian’s hands back on his skin as he went back to making sure he was clean.  
He made sure to pay attention to the edges of where the cybernetic prosthetics were fit into his body, fingers gentle as they traced the skin, looking for any tender spots. Doc thought idly that he would have to get Cub or Xisuma to help him with a full check-up soon, just to make sure everything was okay. It didn’t feel like anything was wrong, but he rarely used it as much and as constantly as he had in the past weeks.  
Grian pressed a quick kiss to the centre of his chest, right where his skin met the chest plate, and moved away.  
“All good?” Doc asked.  
Grian nodded. “All good,” he said. He shut off the water, while Doc got out of the shower and grabbed a towel to wrap Grian in when he followed.  
Grian smiled a little exasperatedly at him, but he let Doc dry him off, before he chucked a towel at his chest and hopped to sit on top of the small cabinet he had somehow fit into the tiny room to watch.  
Doc rolled his eyes at him and once he had tucked the towel around his hips, he stepped close, boxing Grian in against the wall and pressed a slow, languid kiss to his lips.  
Grian moved his knees to accommodate him and wrapped his arms around Doc’s neck. It was tempting to let this go further, to pull Grian closer, and lift him up and carry him back to bed, but neither of them made a move to deepen the kiss.  
They were still kissing when someone banged on the door of the RV and they broke apart with breathless laughs.  
“I told you they would come looking for us,” Grian said.  
Doc smiled and leaned back in for another quick kiss.  
“I’ll deal with them,” he said, before he stepped away and walked out of the bathroom and to the door, making sure his towel was secured around his hips. He could hear voices from outside, people talking and he had to smile at the familiar cadence of the rest of their family laughing and bickering with each other.  
He looked back over his shoulder at Grian, who was still sitting where Doc had left him.  
“Go on. They’re waiting,” he said with a smile.  
Doc nodded and with a deep breath he opened the door. Their family was waiting.


End file.
